2011-2019. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. BRFSS Survey Data. The BRFSS is a continuous, state-based surveillance system that collects information about modifiable risk factors for chronic diseases and other leading causes of death. The data for the STATE System were extracted from the annual BRFSS surveys from participating states. Tobacco topics included are cigarette and e-cigarette use prevalence by demographics, cigarette and e-cigarette use frequency, and quit attempts. NOTE: these data are not to be compared with BRFSS data collected 2010 and prior, as the methodologies were changed. Please refer to the FAQs / Methodology sections for more details.

1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. YRBSS Data. The YRBS is conducted biennially and collects data on a variety of youth risk behaviors including tobacco use. The YRBS uses a two-stage cluster sample design to produce representative samples of students in high schools (grades 9-12). The YRBS uses SUDAAN to calculate asymmetric confidence intervals based on the logit transformation. The logit transformation constrains confidence interval limits to vary between a lower limit of 0% and an upper limit of 100%. The data for the STATE System were extracted from YRBSS surveys from participating states. Tobacco topics include cigarette and e-cigarette use prevalence, cigarette and e-cigarette use frequency, and smokeless tobacco products.

2011–2023. The tobacco disparities dashboard data utilized the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to measure cigarette smoking disparities by age, disability, education, employment, income, mental health status, race and ethnicity, sex, and urban-rural status. The disparity value is the relative difference in the cigarette smoking prevalence among adults 18 and older in a focus group divided by the cigarette smoking prevalence among adults 18 and older in a reference group. A disparity value above 1 indicates that adults in the focus group smoke cigarettes at a higher rate, as reflected by the disparity value, compared with the rate among adults in the reference group who smoke cigarettes. A disparity value below 1 indicates that adults in the focus group smoke cigarettes at a lower rate, as reflected by the disparity value, compared with the rate among adults in the reference group who smoke cigarettes. A disparity value of 1 means there is no relative difference in the rate of adults who smoke cigarettes for the two groups compared.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors six types of health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults. This file contains state-level results for 13 tobacco-use variables by sex and grade for 2013.

This is a source dataset for a Let's Get Healthy California indicator at https://letsgethealthy.ca.gov/. Adult smoking prevalence in California, males and females aged 18+, starting in 2012. Caution must be used when comparing the percentages of smokers over time as the definition of ‘current smoker’ was broadened in 1996, and the survey methods were changed in 2012. Current cigarette smoking is defined as having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and now smoking every day or some days. Due to the methodology change in 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend not conducting analyses where estimates from 1984 – 2011 are compared with analyses using the new methodology, beginning in 2012. This includes analyses examining trends and changes over time. (For more information, please see the narrative description.) The California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an on-going telephone survey of randomly selected adults, which collects information on a wide variety of health-related behaviors and preventive health practices related to the leading causes of death and disability such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and injuries. Data are collected monthly from a random sample of the California population aged 18 years and older. The BRFSS is conducted by Public Health Survey Research Program of California State University, Sacramento under contract from CDPH. The survey has been conducted since 1984 by the California Department of Public Health in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2012, the survey methodology of the California BRFSS changed significantly so that the survey would be more representative of the general population. Several changes were implemented: 1) the survey became dual-frame, with both cell and landline random-digit dial components, 2) residents of college housing were eligible to complete the BRFSS, and 3) raking or iterative proportional fitting was used to calculate the survey weights. Due to these changes, estimates from 1984 – 2011 are not comparable to estimates from 2012 and beyond. Center for Disease Control and Policy (CDC) and recommend not conducting analyses where estimates from 1984 – 2011 are compared with analyses using the new methodology, beginning in 2012. This includes analyses examining trends and changes over time.Current cigarette smoking was defined as having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and now smoking every day or some days. Prior to 1996, the definition of current cigarettes smoking was having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and smoking now.

2013-2014. The National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS) was created to assess the prevalence of tobacco use, as well as the factors promoting and impeding tobacco use among adults. NATS also establishes a comprehensive framework for evaluating both the national and state-specific tobacco control programs. NATS was designed as a stratified, national, landline, and cell phone survey of non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years and older residing in the 50 states or D.C. It was developed to yield data representative and comparable at both national and state levels. The sample design also aims to provide national estimates for subgroups defined by gender, age, and race/ethnicity.