TOBACCO SMOKING

Definition

This topic refers to the smoking of tobacco, including:

• manufactured (packet) cigarettes
• roll-your-own cigarettes
• cigars
• pipes.

This topic excludes:

• chewing tobacco
• smoking of non-tobacco products.

Respondents were asked to describe smoking status at the time of interview:

• current smokers:
  • daily
  • weekly
  • other
• ex-smokers
• never smoked (those who had never smoked 100 cigarettes, nor pipes, cigars or other tobacco products at least 20 times, in their lifetime).

Population

Information was collected for persons aged 15 years and over.

Methodology

Respondents were asked whether they currently smoke. Respondents who answered yes were asked whether they smoked daily (the term 'regularly' is used in the questions and is defined as at least once a day). Those who did not smoke daily were asked whether they smoked at least once a week.

Respondents, who reported that they did not currently smoke daily, were asked whether they had:

• ever smoked regularly (that is, at least once a day)
• smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their life
• ever:
  • chewed tobacco (these responses were excluded from calculating smoker status)
  • smoked pipes
  • smoked cigars
  • smoked other tobacco products

Respondents who identified that they had ever used one of these other tobacco products were asked if they currently do so daily, and if not, whether they had used that product at least 20 times in their entire life. If a respondent did not currently smoke, had not previously smoked daily and had never smoked at least 100 cigarettes, nor smoked pipes, cigars or other tobacco products at least 20 times in their life, they were classified as persons who had never smoked.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) current daily and ex-daily smokers were asked the age they had started smoking daily. Non-remote ex-daily smokers were asked whether they had stopped smoking regularly in the last 12 months. Both remote and non-remote ex-daily smokers were then asked about the age at which they stopped smoking regularly. Current smokers were asked whether they had attempted to quit smoking in the last 12 months, and if so, how many times they had done so.

Data items

The data items and related output categories for this topic are available in Excel spreadsheet format from the Downloads page of this product.

Please note that respondents were asked whether they smoked or had ever smoked 'regularly, that is, at least once a day'. The term 'regular' is replaced by the term 'daily' in the data items.

Interpretation

Points to be considered in interpreting data for this topic include the following:

• Some under-reporting of persons identifying as current smokers is expected to have occurred due to social pressures, particularly in cases where other household members were present at the interview. As with the 2011-12 National Health Survey (NHS), interviewers were given the opportunity to indicate whether a parent was present at the time of the interview for persons aged 15 to 17 years, in order to assist with analysis of some aspects of under-reporting.
• While interviewers are provided with examples of inclusions and exclusions, it is possible that respondents may have included products that they shouldn't have, or vice versa.
• The categories of smoker status, and the concepts on which they are based, align with those in the National Health Data Dictionary (NHDD).
• 'Duration of smoking' is derived in the NATSIHS from reported age commenced daily smoking to current age at the time of the survey (for current smokers), and from age commenced daily smoking to age last ceased daily smoking (for ex-regular smokers). The items are therefore subject to errors around the ages reported by respondents, and the derivation of 'duration' takes no account of periods (potentially long periods) when the respondent may have ceased smoking only to start again.

Comparability with 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS)

Smoking questions were changed in the 2012-13 NATSIHS to add questions about specific tobacco products (chewing tobacco, cigars, pipes, other), in order to account for potential high levels of chewing tobacco use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which would elevate nicotine (cotinine in the blood) levels observed in biomedical data. This change in the questionnaire is minor and the data are considered to be comparable to the 2004-05 NATSIHS data.

Comparability with 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS)

Smoking questions in the 2008 NATSISS used to derive smoker status were the same as the 2004-05 NATSIHS, and therefore are considered comparable.

Comparability with 2011-12 National Health Survey (NHS)

Smoking questions in the 2011-12 NHS used to derive smoker status were the same as the 2004-05 NATSIHS, and therefore are considered comparable.

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