Cigarette smoking is more common among adults with epilepsy than among those without the disorder. Therefore, it is important to target adults with epilepsy who smoke to ensure they have smoking cessation resources to help them quit and decrease their risk of smoking-related disease and early death.
On average, between 2010 and 2017, 1 out of 4 U.S. adults with active epilepsy smoked cigarettes compared to about 1 out of 6 U.S. adults without epilepsy. Between 2010-2017, cigarette smoking did not decrease among adults with active epilepsy, as it did among adults without epilepsy. In addition to health and social service providers promoting smoking cessation resources to people with active epilepsy to help them quit smoking, a comprehensive approach to addressing tobacco prevention and control—including funding state tobacco control programs at CDC-recommended levels, increasing tobacco prices, implementing comprehensive smoke-free policies, conducting anti-tobacco mass media campaigns, and enhancing access to quitting assistance—can increase tobacco cessation and reduce tobacco-related disease and death among all adults, including those with epilepsy.
The article is available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6947a5.htm?s_cid=mm6947a5_w