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4363.0.55.001 - Australian Health Survey: Users' Guide, 2011-13  
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/12/2012   
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Contents >> Health risk factors >> Tobacco smoking

TOBACCO SMOKING


Definition

This topic refers to the smoking of tobacco, including:

  • manufactured (packet) cigarettes;
  • roll-your-own cigarettes;
  • cigars; and,
  • pipes;

but excluding:
  • chewing tobacco; and,
  • smoking of non-tobacco products.

The focus was on 'regular smoking', where 'regular' was defined as one or more cigarettes, pipes or cigars per day as reported by the respondent.

Respondents were asked to describe smoking status at the time of interview:
  • current smokers;
      • daily;
      • weekly; and
      • other;
  • ex-smokers; and,
  • 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 in the NHS and NNPAS surveys.

Methodology

Respondents were asked whether they currently smoke. Respondents who answered yes were asked whether they smoked daily. 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, were asked whether they had:
  • ever smoked regularly (that is, at least once a day);
  • smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their life; and,
  • smoked pipes, cigars or other tobacco products at least 20 times in their life.

If a respondent did not currently smoke 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.

Current daily and ex-daily smokers were asked the age they had started smoking. Ex-daily smokers were asked whether they had stopped smoking regularly in the last 12 months, and the age at which they stopped smoking regularly. Current smokers were asked whether their smoking had increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last 12 months, and whether they usually smoked inside the house.

Respondents in households other than single person households were asked whether anyone else in the household smoked regularly, and if so, the number of people and whether they usually smoked inside the house.


Data items

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

Information on smoking was collected in both the NHS and NNPAS. In Australian Health Survey: First Results (cat. no. 4364.0.55.001), released on 29 October 2012, data on this item are available from the NHS component (21,000 people). Results from the AHS core sample (the full 34,000 people, consisting of both NHS and NNPAS samples combined) will be available in May 2013. For more information on the structure of the AHS, see the Introduction of this Users' Guide.

Please note that:
  • Although the items 'Numbers of daily smokers in household' and 'Whether any daily smokers smoked at home indoors' are household level characteristics, the items are on each person's record.
  • 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. In the 2007-08 and 2011-12 survey, 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.
  • Concepts such as 'regular' were open to different interpretation by respondents and may not have been consistently applied in reporting information in this survey, despite a prompt to respondents that regular meant 'at least once a day'.
  • The selected adult respondent may not have known the smoker status of all other members of the household if, for example, another member only smoked when at work, or children kept their smoking hidden from parents. As a result, some undercounting may have occurred in household level smoking. Estimates of the prevalence of smoking in the population should therefore be based on person level data rather than responses to the 'smokers in household' questions.
  • 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 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.
  • Whether levels of smoking had increased, decreased or stayed the same since 12 months ago is based on self-perception.


Comparability with 2007-08

Smoking is considered directly comparable between the 2007-08 and 2011-12 surveys, however the 2011-12 AHS surveys collected information from respondents aged 15 and over. Previous NHS surveys only collected data from respondents 18 years and over. When making comparisons between the 2011-12 AHS and previous NHS surveys care should be taken to select the correct population.

Other smokers identified in the household could include children.

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