Implications of Rural Residence and Single Mother Status for Maternal Smoking Behaviors

Background Although smoking prevalence has decreased throughout the United States since the early 2000s,1,2 smoking remains more widespread in rural than in urban populations.3,4 Elevated rural smoking rates may contribute to widening rural-urban differences in smoking-related causes of death including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.5,6 These differences, in turn, may partially account for the growing rural-urban mortality gap,5 which is a major concern for rural health policy.