Racial/ethnic differences in the association between menthol cigarette use and mental illness among adults who smoke in the United States

Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2012–2018) were used to characterize the association between menthol cigarette use and indicators of Any (AMI) and Serious (SMI) Mental Illness among adults who smoke in the United States. In general, people who smoke menthol cigarettes were more likely to have AMI (aOR = 1.123 [1.063–1.194]) than people who smoke non-menthol cigarettes, but not SMI (aOR = 1.065 [0.966–1.175]). However, among non-Hispanic African American/Black people who smoke, those that used menthol cigarettes had lower adjusted odds of both AMI (aOR = 0.740 [0.572–0.958]) and SMI (aOR = 0.592 [0.390–0.899]) than their counterparts who used non-menthol cigarettes. Results suggest there may be race/ethnicity-specific drivers of the association between menthol cigarette use and mental illness.