Inventory of surveys on smoking

A review of surveys on smoking was undertaken by the Smoking, Tobacco, and Cancer Program of the National Cancer Institute as part of its planning for smoking control interventions. Eighteen surveys collecting smoking data were identified. The key persons associated with the surveys were interviewed according to a uniform protocol developed to obtain comparable data on the content, timeframe, population sample, methodology, availability of data, and mode of information dissemination of the surveys. Analysis indicated that the main variations among surveys occurred in the age range of the population sampled, the definition of smoking behavior, and the quantification of cigarettes smoked. Other issues of special interest compared in the surveys included type of cigarette smoked, attempts at smoking cessation, smokeless tobacco use, passive smoking, use of low tar and low nicotine cigarettes, and smoking among special populations (women, youth, Hispanics, and blacks). Two main areas of concern in planning, targeting, and evaluating timely and appropriate smoking behavior interventions are the lag between data collection and publication of survey results and the variability in the content and methodology of the surveys.