Smokeless tobacco use among military flight personnel: a survey of 543 aviators.

INTRODUCTION: Although there has been a steady decline in smoking rates among adults in the United States in recent years, the consumption of smokeless tobacco (ST) continues to increase. Moreover, ST use in the U.S. military is far higher than in the general population. This study was designed to determine the extent of ST use in a military aviation population and measure users' attitudes toward elements of a proposed cessation program.

METHODS: A study was conducted at two naval aviation training wings in western Florida. The target population (N=2233) included flight instructors, students, and staff/support personnel who were rated aviators or flight officers. A total of 543 usable questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 24.3%.

RESULTS: There were 71 respondents who reported using ST in the last 30 d (13.1%). This group responded favorably to questions regarding the involvement of both medical and dental health professionals as critical components of an effective ST cessation program.

DISCUSSION: This survey provides evidence for a rate of ST use among military aviators that is much higher than the U.S. national civilian average of 3.5%. Drawing upon the background of previous dental health-based studies, we propose augmenting existing tobacco cessation resources by creating separate ST cessation programs to reduce ST use among U.S. military aviators.