On this page: About the National Data | Methodology | History
About the National Data
Data
Baseline: 25.6 percent of children aged 3 to 11 years, nonsmoking adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, and nonsmoking adults aged 18 years and over were exposed to secondhand smoke in 2013-16
Target: 17.4 percent
Methodology
Questions used to obtain the national baseline data
From 2013 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey:
Numerator and Denominator:
[For ages 12 years and older]:
During the past 5 days, including today, did you smoke cigarettes, pipes, cigars, little cigars or cigarillos, water pipes, hookahs, or e-cigarettes?- Yes
- No
- REFUSED
- DON'T KNOW
- Yes
- No
- REFUSED
- DON'T KNOW
[For ages 18 years and older]:
During the past 5 days, including today, did you use any nicotine replacement therapy products such as nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers, or nasal sprays?- Yes
- No
- REFUSED
- DON'T KNOW
Methodology notes
Children aged 3 to 11 years are classified as nonsmokers if they have a serum cotinine level less than or equal to 10 ng/mL.
Adolescents (aged 12-17 years) were classified as nonsmokers if they did not report using any nicotine-containing products (cigarettes, pipes, cigars, little cigars or cigarillos, water pipes, hookahs, e-cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products) within the preceding 5 days and if their serum cotinine level is less than or equal to 10 ng/mL.
Adults (aged 18 years and over) are classified as nonsmokers if they did not report using any nicotine-containing tobacco product (cigarettes, pipes, cigars, little cigars or cigarillos, water pipes, hookahs, or e-cigarettes, or smokeless tobacco products) or nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers, or nasal sprays) within the preceding 5 days and if their serum cotinine level is less than or equal to 10 ng/mL.
For respondents aged 12 and older, only responses to the questions asked of participants in the examination component were used so that serum cotinine levels could be used for the analysis. The limit of detection used for cotinine is 0.05 ng/mL. This indicator uses age-adjustment groups: 3-11; 12-19; 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+.
Age-adjustment notes
This Indicator uses Age-Adjustment Groups:
- Total: 3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-69,70-79,80+
- Sex: 3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-69,70-79,80+
- Race/Ethnicity: 3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-69,70-79,80+
- Educational Attainment: 25-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+
- Family Income (percent poverty threshold): 3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-69,70-79,80+
- Country of Birth: 3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-69,70-79,80+
- Disability Status: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+
- Health Insurance Status: 3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-64
- Marital Status: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+
- Veteran Status: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+
- Obesity Status: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+
History
The baseline data for TU-19 were re-run to add the HP2030 standard template data, At that time there was a small adjustment in the age adjustment groups used to align with our guidance on age adjusting NHANES objectives. The age adjustment groups were changed from: (3-17, 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+) to: (3-11,12-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50-59,60-69,70-79,80+). As a result, in 2024 the baseline was revised from 25.5% to 25.6% in 2013-2016.
As a result of the change in the baseline, the target was revised from 17.3% to 17.4% using the original target setting method.
The baseline statement was further revised to align with the age groups used in the methodology to reduce confusion on the measure.
1. Effect size h=0.2 was chosen to correspond with 20% improvement from a baseline of 50%.