Table 4.

The Impact of Health Knowledge on Health Behaviors 1990 National Health Interview Survey, whites ages 25 and over

			Regression Coefficients Without Knowledge Questions	Regression Coefficients With Knowledge Questions
Dependent Variable	Mean	N	Years of Education	Years of Education	Percent Questions Correct	Reduction in Education Coefficient
Smoking
Current smoker	26%	29929	−0.021**	−0.018**	−0.318**	17%
			(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.012)
Former smoker	28%	29929	0.003**	0.001	0.156**	63%
			(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.013)
Made serious attempt to quit (smokers)	64%	7602	0.011**	0.008**	0.24**	28%
			(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.024)
Number cigs a day (smokers)	21.5	15388	−0.327**	−0.327**	0.056	0%
			(0.046)	(0.047)	(0.554)
Alcohol
Drink at least 12 drinks per year	73%	29869	0.010**	0.010**	−0.044**	−3%
			(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.009)
Heavy drinker (usually drinks>=5--all persons)	5%	30222	−0.005**	−0.005**	−0.011**	1%
			(0.0005)	(0.0005)	(0.005)
Number drinks when drinks (drank in last two weeks)	2.4	13845	−0.105**	−0.103**	−0.189**	1%
			(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.049)
Average Reduction in Education Coefficient
Unweighted standardized index		29836	0.022**	0.021**		5%
			(0.001)	(0.001)
Unweighted percentages (outcomes w/significant gradients at baseline)						18%
Mortality weighted						12%

Notes: The sample is aged 25 and older. Sample sizes are constant across columns. All regressions include a full set of age dummies, gender, Hispanic origin, family income, family size, major activity, region, MSA, and marital status. The smoking questions ask whether smoking increases a person's risk for 7 diseases, for 4 pregnancy complications, and for stroke incidence while on birth control. The drinking questions ask whether alcohol increases the risk for 3 diseases and 4 pregnancy complications. Unweighted regressions use the methodology of Kling et al. (2007).

^**(*) indicates statistical significance at the 5% (10%) level.