Problem/Objective: Smoking cessation significantly reduces tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. This study examines U.S. adult cessation trends and quit attempts by sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods: Data from the National Health Interview Survey, an annual household survey of the U.S. civilian non-institutional population age ≥ 18 years, were used to estimate the weighted proportion of ever smokers (smoked > 100 cigarettes in their life) who quit smoking (reported no current smoking) from 1965-2005 and quit attempts (quit > 1 day in the past year) among current everyday smokers (smoked ≥ 100 cigarettes & currently smoked every day) from 1993-2005.

Results: The proportion of ever smokers who no longer smoked increased overall from 24.3% in 1965 to 50.8% in 2005. Significant increases occurred in males (27.6% to 51.0%), females (19.1% -50.4%), Whites (25.2%-53.1%), Blacks (15.5%-39.1%), those 18-24 years old (13.1% - 22.7%), 25-44 (21.0% - 37.0%), 45-64 (27.9% - 55.1%), & ≥ 65 years old(45.5%-82.2%). Among current everyday smokers, there was a significant decrease in quit attempts overall from 47.0% in 1993 to 40.2% in 2005, among males (46.1% - 38.7%), females (48.0% - 42.1%), non-Hispanic Whites (46.7%-39.0%), those 18-24 years old (59.2% -46.2%), 25-44 (48.5% - 43.4%), 45-64 (42.6%-36.0%)years old , highschool or GED graduates (45.7%-35.8%), and those at/above the poverty level (48.3%-41.5%).

Conclusions: Although most ever smokers in the US have quit, quit attempts among the remaining smokers have decreased over time and significant disparities in cessation exist. We need to fully implement proven cessation strategies at the community and individual levels to increase cessation among adults.