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Electronic Records on Tobacco Health Issues

Introduction

This reference report provides an overview of the electronic data records in the custody of the National Archives that contain information about tobacco use and the health effects of tobacco usage. Please note that any personal identifiers in the records have either been deleted or otherwise masked so particular individuals cannot be identified.

Full descriptions of the series and data files listed in this report are in the National Archives Catalog. Users can search the Catalog by title, National Archives Identifier, type of archival material, or keyword.

Some of the series and files listed in this report are accessible online:

  • Download - This is a link for downloading the files and documentation from the Catalog. For more details on downloading files, please review the frequently asked questions (FAQs).

All of the files are also available for a cost-recovery fee. For more information see: Ordering Information for Electronic Records.

Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the Census

  • Current Population Survey (CPS): Topical Supplement Files, 8/1967 -
    National Archives Identifier: 571948
    • Smoking and Tobacco Use Supplements
      Data Files: 1 data file per survey
      Technical Documentation: Varies per survey

      Questions regarding smoking habits are included in the CPS on a regular basis. The data collected include frequency of smoking, form of tobacco used, and age started smoking, attempts to stop smoking, physician/dentist warnings to stop smoking, and workplace policies on smoking. The supplements also record attitudes toward smoking in public places, smoking at home, the addictive or non-addictive nature of tobacco, the availability of tobacco to minors, and the advertising and promotion of tobacco products.

Record Group 220: Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards

  • National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse: Surveys of the Attitudes of Adults and Juveniles on Drug Use and Abuse, 1971-1972
    National Archives Identifier: 644647
    Online Access: Download

    Questions included in the surveys about tobacco use include: whether respondents have ever heard about tobacco and whether it can be harmful; whether tobacco is addictive; and questions about cigarette smoking habits (ever smoked, smoke at the present time, average number of cigarettes smoked daily, and whether they have ever tried to quit or cut down).

Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense

  • American Soldier in World War II Surveys, 1942-1945
    National Archives Identifier: 620483
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains World War II soldiers' responses to surveys on a variety of topics. Some of the questions regarding morale and rations include coded answers relating to tobacco and/or cigarettes. Questions concerning post-war occupational plans include coded answers for tobacco farming.

Record Group 442: Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Adult Use of Tobacco Survey (AUTS), 1986
    National Archives Identifier: 607143
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains information on a variety of tobacco delivery products, including snuff, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, and cigars, and the frequency and amount of use of such products by respondents. It also includes data about the respondents' knowledge of health-related risks, the respondents' attempts to cease using tobacco products, and changes in warning labels on tobacco packages.

  • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1984 -
    National Archives Identifier: 607154
    Data Files: 130
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey

    This series contains information about the behaviors of the adult population that pose risks to an individual's well-being including the use of tobacco products.

  • National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2001 -
    National Archives Identifier: 654330
    Data Files: 1
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey; includes electronic documentation

    The survey contains patient information from visits to physicians' offices. Data are available on the patient's smoking habits, reason for the visit, the physician's diagnosis, and the kinds of diagnostic and therapeutic services rendered.

  • Natality Detail File, 1968 -
    National Archives Identifier: 630944
    Data Files: 46
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey; includes electronic documentation

    This series contains information gathered from birth certificates registered in the United States. The records include clinical information on prenatal care and risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol use, and weight gain during pregnancy.

  • National Registry of Persons Exposed to Toxic or Hazardous Substances Files, 1986-1999
    National Archives Identifier: 624422
    Data Files: 28
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey; includes electronic documentation

    This series contains information on persons exposed to or potentially exposed to hazardous toxic substances. The data contains health information and tobacco use.

  • National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS), 1969 -
    National Archives Identifier: 605240
    Data Files: 240
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey; includes electronic documentation

    This series contains sample data on the health of the civilian population of the United States including annual topical supplements with questions on diseases and medical conditions such as cancer and smoking.

  • National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), 1973 -
    National Archives Identifier: 570338
    Online Access: Download

    The agency collected these data in order to obtain national level information on family formation and dissolution, contraception, infertility, and the health of women and infants in the United States and it includes data on respondents' tobacco usage.

  • Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System (PNSS), 1978 -
    National Archives Identifier: 617237
    Data Files: 4
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey

    This series contains data collected by state and local health clinics from pregnant women who participated in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This health and social survey includes information on prenatal risk factors including smoking and alcohol consumption.

Record Group 443: Records of the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute

  • Epidemiologic Studies of Occupational Groups Files, 1982 - ca. 2000
    • U.S. Veterans Mortality Study, 1952-1980
      National Archives Identifier: 1150924
      Online Access: Download

      This file contains data measuring the relationship between adult smoking behavior and lung cancer as well as other causes of death.

  • Social, Epidemiology Study of Black/White Survival, 1985-1987, 1996 Follow-Up Black/White Cancer Survival Study Files of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, 1985-1987
    National Archives Identifier: 1151109
    Online Access: Download

    The agency conducted this study to examine the possible social, behavioral, and biological determinants of disparities in cancer survival between black and white cancer patients. Survey questions cover tobacco use.

  • National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey File (NLAES)
    National Archives Identifier: 598151
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains information on alcohol use and drug use, alcohol and drug abuse and dependence, family history of alcoholism, mental illness, tobacco use, alcohol and drug-related medical conditions, and treatment of alcoholics and drug rehabilitation in the American population.

  • Oral Health Survey Files, 1979 - 1987
    • National Survey of Oral Health in U.S. School Children Data File, 1986-1987
      National Archives Identifier: 648480
      Data Files: 1
      Technical Documentation: 370 pages

      This file contains data from a survey specifically designed to monitor national progress in eliminating dental caries as a major public health problem. Data also include the history and current use of tobacco and alcohol products for students in grades 6 through 12.

  • Collaborative Perinatal Project Files (CPP), 1959 - 1974
    National Archives Identifier: 606622
    Online Access: Download

    The study sought to link any later appearance of physical or neurological disorder to patterns during the perinatal period in order to develop strategies for prevention and intervention. In relation to the subject of tobacco, medical information in the records also includes a sketch of the woman's smoking history and consists of the following: 1) number of packs smoked, 2) number of years smoked, 3) age at which smoking began, 4) age at which smoking stopped, 5) largest daily amount smoked, 6) number smoked now, 7) cigarettes per day now, and 8) number of years smoked at registration.

Collection ICPSR: Records of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

  • Study of Consumer Purchases in the United States Files, 1935-1936
    National Archives Identifier: 649259
    Data Files: 5
    Technical Documentation: Varies per survey; includes electronic documentation

    This series contains data from national surveys taken in 1935-1936 of a sample of all families, on the earning and spending habits of inhabitants of large and small cities, villages, and farms. Records contain detail data on all household income sources and expenditures, including tobacco use.

Other Related Data Files

The following is a list of other series of electronic records in NARA's custody that contain or potentially contain data related to the production and trade of tobacco and tobacco-related commodities or to the health effects of tobacco usage.

Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the Census

  • U.S. Import and Export Data since 1964; Export Non Con Data Bank (EA 694 & 695) [Annual Trade Summaries Between the U.S. and U.S. Possessions] (National Archives Identifier: 566340)
  • Census of Agriculture Summary Files, 1974-1987 (National Archives Identifier: 571510)
  • Census of Agriculture, 1987 (National Archives Identifier: 571518)
  • Annual Survey of Manufactures Summary Files, 1976- (National Archives Identifier: 575562)
  • Census of Manufactures, 1972- (National Archives Identifier: 574852)
  • County Business Patterns, 1974- (National Archives Identifier: 613576)
  • County and City Data Book (CCDB) (National Archives Identifier: 625278)

Record Group 354: Records of the Economic Research Service

  • Census of Agriculture 1949-1974 (National Archives Identifier: 603946)

Record Group 355: Records of the National Agricultural Statistics Service

  • Published Estimates Database, 1866-1992 (National Archives Identifier: 601816)

Record Group 375: Records of the Bureau of Economic Analysis

  • Input-Output Benchmark Computer Work Files, 1963-1977 (National Archives Identifier: 650410)
  • Regional Economic Information System (REIS), 1988 release (National Archives Identifier: 617473)

Record Group 442: Records of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Longitudinal Study of Aging, 1984-1990 (National Archives Identifier: 623173)
  • National Health [and Nutrition] Examination Surveys, 1963 (National Archives Identifier: 1353817)
  • National Maternal and Infant Health Survey (NMIHS), 1988 (National Archives Identifier: 1350335)

Record Group 443: Records of the National Institutes of Health

  • Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE), 1982-1990 (National Archives Identifier: 605138)

Record Group 468: General Records of the Department of Health and Human Services

  • Health Insurance Experiment, 1974-1982 (National Archives Identifier: 604860)

Record Group 510: Records of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

  • Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys, 1996- (National Archives Identifier: 631349)
  • National Medical [Care] Expenditure Surveys, 1977- (National Archives Identifier: 602355)

Related Information

Reference Information Paper 78, A Finding Aid to Records Relating to Personal Participation in World War II ("The American Soldier" Surveys), at: http://www.archives.gov/publications/ref-info-papers/78/.

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) provides an Internet version of the Published Estimates Database (IPEDB) database at: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/. The IPEDB contains data on tobacco production in the U.S. beginning in 1866.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a number of programs that provide statistical data related to smoking and tobacco use at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/index.htm and at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/smoking.htm.

 The National Cancer Institute website provides access to statistical data relating to tobacco and cancer at: http://www.cancer.gov/research/resources.

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April  2022

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