How to quit smoking cigarettes

Smoking Cessation Facts

Questions about smoking behaviour have been asked of GHS respondents aged 16 and over in alternate years since 1974. Following the review of the GHS, the smoking questions became part of the continuous survey and have been included`every year from 2000 onwards.

• The reliability of smoking estimates

• The effect of weighting on the smoking data

• Targets for the reduction of smoking

• Trends in the prevalence of cigarette smoking

• Cigarette smoking and marital status

• Regional variation in cigarette smoking

• Cigarette smoking and socio-economic classification

• Cigarette smoking and economic activity status

• Cigarette consumption

• Cigarette type

• Tar yield

• Cigar and pipe smoking

• Age started smoking

• Dependence on cigarette smoking

This chapter updates information about trends in cigarette smoking presented in previous reports in this series. It also comments on variations according to personal characteristics such as sex, age, socio-economic classification and economic activity status, as well as commenting briefly on the prevalence of cigarette smoking in different parts of Great Britain. Other topics covered include cigarette consumption, type of cigarette smoked and dependence on cigarettes.

The reliability of smoking estimates

As noted in previous GHS reports, it is likely that the GHS underestimates cigarette consumption and (perhaps to a lesser extent) prevalence (the proportion of people who smoke). The evidence suggests that when respondents are asked how many cigarettes they smoke each day, there is a tendency to round the figure down to the nearest multiple of 10. Underestimates of consumption are therefore likely to occur in all age groups. Under-reporting of prevalence is most likely to occur among young people. To protect their privacy, particularly when they are being interviewed in their parents’ home, young people aged 16 and 17 complete the smoking and drinking sections of the questionnaire themselves. Neither the questions nor their responses are heard by anyone else who may be present. This is probably only partially successful in encouraging honest answers1. When considering trends in smoking, it is usually assumed that any under-reporting remains constant over time. However, since the prevalence of smoking has fallen, this assumption may not be entirely justified. As smoking has become less acceptable as a social habit, some people may be less inclined to admit how much they smoke – or, indeed, to admit to smoking at all.

The effect of weighting on the smoking data

Weighting for nonresponse was introduced on the GHS in 2000 and was described in detail in the GHS 2000 report2. The effect of weighting on the smoking data is slight, increasing the overall prevalence of cigarette smoking by one percentage point. The change occurs because weighting reduces the contribution to the overall figure of those aged 60 and over, among whom prevalence is relatively low. The weights which should be applied to the 2001 data were re-calculated following revisions to the population estimates to which the data are grossed – see Appendix

D for further details. The effect on the data was very slight, and figures published in Living in Britain 2001 have not been amended in this report.

Leave a comment.