Nearly 41 percent of Pennsylvanians have gambled on slot machines in the last year, according to a survey by the state Health Department.
Pennsylvania health officials last year added questions about gambling to a monthly phone survey on behavioral risk factors. The surveys, conducted July through December 2007, interviewed 6,600 adults and found that 43 percent of those surveyed had gambled in the past 12 months. Among the respondents who gambled, nearly 41 percent said they played the slots.
However, fewer than 1 percent said gambling caused them personal or financial problems, according the survey.
The information will help in determining how to target public education and awareness programs about gambling problems, Stacy Kriedeman, spokesperson for the department, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
She added, however, that the low number of people identifying themselves with compulsive tendencies was heartening.