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1.2 Overview of major Australian data sets

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Several series of surveys investigating adult smoking behaviour in Australia have been undertaken in recent decades, providing a wealth of information. The most comprehensive are:

  • the National Health Surveys, conducted approximately five-yearly (and more recently three-yearly) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with the first including routine questionsi on smoking behaviour undertaken in 1989–19901–5
  • the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys, results of which are published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, commencing in 1985 and conducted every two to three years6–13
  • surveys undertaken by research groups under the auspices of Cancer Council Victoria (formerly the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria) at three-yearly intervals, from 1974 to 1998.14–23 The Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer (CBRC), a unit within Cancer Council Victoria, has extended this set with data from the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys, which since 2001 have assessed smoking status using a methodology considered sufficiently similar to that of Cancer Council Victoria24 to extend the trend lines.23 Additional analysisii has produced the most consistently collected and detailed trends data available for Australia, spanning the years from 1980 to 2010.
  • the National Tobacco Survey, which collects information annually on tobacco use and behaviours among Australian teenagers and adults on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing. It was first commissioned in 1997 as a tool to evaluate the National Tobacco Campaign but was also used for several years to monitor the impact of tobacco policy initiatives.25 Results of this survey have not been published for some time.

Discussion in this chapter will draw on these and other sources. In most cases latest estimates of smoking prevalence are drawn from the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.13 In most cases analysis of historical trends is based on the new data series generated by the CBRC (as described in Footnote ii). Changes in the volume of tobacco consumed are discussed in Chapter 2.

i A survey undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 1977 also provides data on smoking behaviour from this period. (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4380.0 Alcohol and tobacco consumption patterns, February 1977. Canberra: ABS, 1977.)

ii Data on adult prevalence presented in this chapter originate from previously unpublished analyses undertaken by the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, within Cancer Council Victoria. Prevalence data from 1980 to 2001 have been re-analysed and extended, excluding individuals aged under 18 and weighting the data sets to 2001 census data based on five standard categories of age and sex. Information presented here therefore differs slightly from that published in prior journal articles describing Australian adult prevalence of smoking from 1980 to 2001.13–22 Survey data for 200110 2004 11 200712 and 201013, are taken from the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys, undertaken by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and analysed by the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer.

Notes on methodology

Cancer Council Victoria data were collected as part of an omnibus survey conducted by the same national market research company in each survey year. A random sample of households across Australia was selected for surveying and interviewers conducted face to face surveys with respondents aged 14+ in their home. The original analyses of data from these surveys were based on data from respondents aged 16 and over. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey is also a survey of a random sample of men and women across Australia, with respondents aged 14+. A market research company has conducted the field work for the study and collected the data using three methods: (a) face to face household interviews; (b) drop and collect questionnaires (interviewer contacts household, identifies respondent, and leaves a questionnaire for them to complete by themselves); and (c) computer-assisted telephone interviews. Only data collected by the first two methods are used here as these data collection methods most closely matched those used for Cancer Council Victoria surveys. Data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey have also been re-analysed to include responses only from individuals 18 and over, using the following source files:

- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2001 (computer file). Canberra: Australian Social Science Data Archive, The Australian National University, 2001.

- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2004, (computer file). Canberra: Australian Social Science Data Archives, The Australian National University, 2005.

- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2007: First Results. (Computer File). Canberra: Australian Social Science Data Archive, The Australian National University, 2008.

- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2010: (Computer file) Canberra; Australian Data Archive. The Australian National University 2010.

The two surveys use different questions to define 'current' smoking. In Cancer Council Victoria surveys, the question for assessing smoking status (which remained unchanged for the duration of the survey period) asked respondents to classify themselves as a current smoker of cigarettes or cigars or pipes, an ex-smoker of any tobacco product, or a never smoker. In the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, smoking status is ascertained since 2001 by asking respondents if they have ever tried a cigarette or smoked a full cigarette, and then enquiring of respondents who say 'yes', whether they have smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Respondents indicating that they have smoked more than 100 cigarettes are asked: 'How often do you now smoke cigarettes, pipes, or other tobacco products?' and are asked to select one of the following responses: 'daily', 'at least weekly', 'less often than weekly', 'not at all but I have smoked in the past 12 months', or 'not at all and I have not smoked in the past 12 months'. Respondents indicating that they smoke 'daily' or 'at least weekly' are classified as current smokers. A calibration study24 of the two different approaches has found that they produced the same estimates of smoking prevalence, indicating that these data sets can reasonably be combined to analyse trends.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4364.0 National Health Survey 1989–90: summary of results. Canberra: ABS, 1992. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/second+level+view?ReadForm&prodno=4364.0&viewtitle=National%20Health%20Survey:%20Summary%20of%20Results~1995~Previous~28/08/1997&&tabname=Past%20Future%20Issues&prodno=4364.0&issue=1995&num=&view=&

2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4364.0 National Health Survey 1995: summary of results. Canberra: ABS, 1997. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4364.01995?OpenDocument

3. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4364.0 National Health Survey 2001: summary of results. Canberra: ABS, 2002. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4364.02001?OpenDocument

4. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4364.0 National Health Survey 2004–05: summary of results. Canberra: ABS, 2006. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4364.02004-05?OpenDocument

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6. Makkai T and McAllister. Patterns of drug use in Australia. An analysis of national trend data 1985–1991. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services, 1993.

7. Commonwealth Department of Health Housing and Local Government and Community Services. 1993 National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Conducted on behalf of the National Drug Strategy. Canberra: AGPS, 1993.

8. Commonwealth of Australia. National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Canberra: AGPS, 1996.

9. Adhikari P and Summerill A. 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug statistics series no. 6, AIHW cat. no. PHE 27. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1999. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/6243

10. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug statistics series no. 11, AIHW cat. no. PHE 41. Canberra: AIHW, 2002. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/8227

11. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug strategy series no.16, AIHW cat. no. PHE 66. Canberra: AIHW, 2005. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/phe/ndshsdf04/ndshsdf04.pdf

12. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: detailed findings. Drug statistics series no. 22, AIHW cat. no. PHE 107. Canberra: AIHW, 2008. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10674

13. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: survey report. Drug statistics series no. 25, AIHW cat. no. PHE 145. Canberra: AIHW, 2011. Available from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=32212254712&libID=32212254712&tab=2

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22. Hill DJ, White VM and Scollo MM. Smoking behaviours of Australian adults in 1995: trends and concerns. Medical Journal of Australia 1998;168(5):209–13. Available from: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/mar2/hill/hill.html

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24. Mullins R and Borland R. Changing the way smoking is measured among Australian adults: a preliminary investigation. In Quit evaluation studies no. 9. Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, 1998. 163–73. Available from: http://www.quit.org.au/downloads/QE/QE9/QE9Home.html

25. The Social Research Centre. National Tobacco Survey: Smoking Prevalence and Consumption 1997–2005. Sydney: for the Research and Marketing Group, Business Group, Department of Health and Ageing, 2006. Available from: http://www.quitnow.info.au/internet/quitnow/publishing.nsf/content/E358356416AB1E48CA2571A30081B517/$File/prevalence-feb06.pdf

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