Trends in smoking among adults with serious psychological distress during comprehensive tobacco control in New York City, 2003–2012

Adults with mental illness in the USA suffer excess smoking-related morbidity and mortality.1 Recent studies examining trends from 2001–2005 and 2004–2011 have shown consistently higher smoking prevalence and less successful quitting among those with mental illness, across an array of diagnoses.2 ,3 However, national data may mask changes in jurisdictions such as New York City (NYC), where comprehensive tobacco control (CTC) including taxation, legislation, education and access to cessation medications has operated for a decade (see Kilgore et al for details).4 We analysed data from the NYC Community Health Survey (CHS),5 to assess whether declines in the citywide smoking prevalence between 2003 and 20124 extend to those with serious psychological distress (SPD), measured using the …