<< Epidemiology and Intervention Research

Surveys

1996 National Survey of Smoking Patterns in China
The Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine (CAPM), Ministry of Health, the Chinese Association of Smoking or Health (CASH) and the Office of the Committee of the National Patriotic Health collaborated on this survey, which was the third national smoking survey since 1984, but the first with a fully representative sample of the population in China. The survey was conducted using the Disease Surveillance Points System (DSP), a representative sample of both rural and urban areas, including 145 DSP in 30 provinces in China. In each of the 145 DSP, a randomized three-stage sampling of households was used to survey persons over 15 years of age in 1,000 households (65,000 men, 57,000 women). The questionnaire included a total of 52 questions on demographics; prevalence of smoking; and knowledge and attitudes related to smoking, quitting, smoking-related health effects, and passive-smoke exposure.

Follow-up Surveys
A series of follow-up studies has been initiated based on the national survey. The first two follow-up studies will obtain more in-depth information than was available from the national survey on knowledge, attitudes and beliefs relating to smoking, as well as the participants' understanding of health effects and motivation for starting to smoke and for quitting.

One of the surveys will be conducted in adults, the other among middle-school students (a population absent from the national survey). Questionnaires for adults will address incidence and risk factors for initiation and cessation, trends of smoking by age, geographical region and other characteristics, influence of particular groups on shaping public opinion, and which smoking prevention strategies would have the greatest impact. The school-based survey will assess smoking prevalence, knowledge and attitudes on smoking and its health risks, and motivational factors related to initiation.

Each of the follow-up surveys will include 20 DSP points in both rural and urban areas, selected from the original 150 DSP points. For the adult study, 1,000 households will be randomly selected from each of the 20 DSP points. Approximately 20,000 adults will be interviewed. For the school-based survey, 100 middle schools will be randomly selected and 100 students will be interviewed in each school.

Related Publications
Yang G, Ma J, Chen A, Brown S. Smoking Among Adolescents in China: 1998 Survey Findings. IJE 2004; 33(5): 1103-1110. See article

Yang G, Ma J, Chen A, Zhang Y, Samet JM, Taylor CE et al. Smoking cessation in China: findings from the 1996 national prevalence survey. Tobacco Control 2001; 10(2):170-174. See article