(Scientific Session) Smoking and Drinking Behaviors Among Adults with Childhood- versus Adult-onset Disability: Results from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey

Background and/or Objectives: Evaluate the relationship between disability status as well as age of disability onset (childhood vs. adult) and current cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking behaviors among a population-based sample of adults.

Design: Secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional study

Setting: 2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an annual, nationally representative household interview survey (n=31,568 adults) on illness and disability in the United States.

Participants: NHIS participants 22-80 years old (n=28,225).

Interventions: Not applicable

Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported prevalence of current cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking behaviors among those with disability compared to those without disability, and among those with childhood-onset disability (defined as onset before age 22, per NHIS question) compared to adult-onset disability. Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of current smoking and moderate-to-heavy alcohol drinking for individuals with vs. without disability as well as childhood- vs. adult-onset disability, adjusted for demographic factors.

Results: Individuals with disabilities more frequently reported current smoking (23.5% vs. 11.2%, p< 0.0001) and less frequently reported moderate-to-heavy alcohol drinking (14.0% vs. 27.3%, p< 0.0001) compared to individuals without disabilities. However, persons with childhood- vs. adult-onset disabilities did not differ significantly in reported current smoking (27.6% vs 22.9%, p=0.12) or moderate-to-heavy alcohol drinking (15.6% vs. 13.7%, p=0.45). In adjusted logistic regression models, individuals with disability had significantly higher odds of current smoking [aOR 1.60, 95% CI (1.40, 1.83)] and lower odds of moderate-to-heavy alcohol drinking [OR 0.56, 95% CI (0.48, 0.65)] compared to individuals without disability. There was not a significant difference in the odds of current smoking or moderate-to-heavy alcohol drinking amongst individuals with childhood- vs. adult-onset disability.

Conclusions: Individuals with disability have higher odds of current cigarette smoking and lower odds of moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption compared to those without disability. Persons with childhood- vs. adult-onset disability report similar smoking and drinking behaviors and therefore warrant similar preventive screening measures.