Premilitary Tobacco Use by Male Marine Corps Recruits

Abstract

Recognizing both the medical and operational costs of tobacco use, the Department of Defense has made tobacco cessation a top health promotion priority. Military tobacco rates remain high, however, especially among younger personnel and, particularly, in the Marine Corps. Tobacco is prohibited during basic training, but relapse is common following boot camp graduation. The objective of this study was to determine patterns and prevalence of tobacco use among Marine Corps recruits before entering basic training. Over a period of 14 months, 15,689 graduating male recruits completed a survey of their preservice tobacco use. Approximately 81% reported having tried tobacco at least once and 57% were classified as at-risk users. Compared to their civilian peers, more recruits were daily users and many more used smokeless tobacco. Approximately 67% of users evidenced at least one indicator of dependence. There is a clear need for additional tobacco cessation efforts to target this high-risk population.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA496752

Entities

People

  • Linda K. Trent
  • Susan M. Hilton
  • Ted Melcer

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Attrition
  • Basic Training
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Families (Human)
  • Health
  • Health Services
  • Indicators
  • Intervention
  • Marine Corps
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Personnel
  • Students
  • Therapy
  • Training

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.
  • Naval Personnel Management