INTERMITTENT SMOKERS - A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF PERSONS WHO HAVE NEVER SMOKED DAILY

Objectives. This study assessed the prevalence of and demographic vari ables associated with lifetime never-daily smoking in the United State s. Methods. Descriptive demographic data and logistic regression analy ses were used to examine associations with never-daily smoking. Result s. Lifetime never-daily smokers constituted a significant minority of non-White smokers. There was a strong association between never-daily smoking and college education among young adults, particularly men. Al though never-daily smoking was associated with initiation behavior amo ng young smokers, it also represented a persistent pattern for some sm okers, particularly non-Whites and Hispanics. Conclusions. The demogra phic distribution of never-daily smoking may have implications for dev eloping culturally appropriate smoking prevention and cessation strate gies.