BRFSS Tobacco Use Prevalence and Trends 1995-2010

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) provides weighted prevalence data on tobacco use from 1995 to 2010. Data includes categories for Former Smoker, Current Smokers, and Non Smoker, with percentages adjusted for population characteristics. The dataset is maintained by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in the Former Smoker and Current Smokers categories over the 1995-2010 period to study public health interventions.
• Model the relationship between demographic factors and Non Smoker prevalence using weighted percentage data.
• Compare tobacco use categories across different geographic regions covered by the BRFSS survey.

Strengths

• Data spans 16 years from 1995 to 2010, enabling longitudinal trend analysis.
• Percentages are weighted to population characteristics, improving representativeness.
• Includes distinct analytical categories such as Former Smoker, Current Smokers, and Non Smoker.

Limitations

• Data rows and specific column counts are unknown, limiting assessment of dataset scale and structure.
• Data availability is restricted by BRFSS stability requirements, potentially creating gaps for some metrics or years.
• The dataset's last metadata update was in 2025, but the core data is from 1995-2010, making it temporally stale for current analysis.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Collection Method

Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, with percentages weighted to population characteristics.

Time Range

1995 to 2010

Freshness

Metadata last updated 2025-06-28; core data covers 1995-2010.

Geography

United States (implied by BRFSS coverage).