Person—tobacco smoking status, code N

Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:

Data Element

Short name:

Tobacco smoking status

METeOR identifier:

270311

Registration status:

Health, Standard 01/03/2005

Definition:

A person's current and past smoking behaviour, as represented by a code.

Context:

Public health and health care

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Representation class:

Code

Data type:

Number

Format:

N

Maximum character length:

1

Permissible values:

Value	Meaning
1	Daily smoker
2	Weekly smoker
3	Irregular smoker
4	Ex-smoker
5	Never smoked

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:

CODE 1 Daily smoker

A person who smokes daily

CODE 2 Weekly smoker

A person who smokes at least weekly but not daily

CODE 3 Irregular smoker

A person who smokes less than weekly

CODE 4 Ex-smoker

A person who does not smoke at all now, but has smoked at least 100 cigarettes or a similar amount of other tobacco products in his/her lifetime.

CODE 5 Never-smoker

A person who does not smoke now and has smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes or similar amount of other tobacco products in his/her lifetime.

Source and reference attributes

Reference documents:

Standard Questions on the Use of Tobacco Among Adults (1998)

Data element attributes

Collection and usage attributes

Collection methods:

The recommended standard for collecting this information is the Standard Questions on the Use of Tobacco Among Adults - interviewer administered (Questions 1 and 4) and self-administered (Questions 1 and 1a) versions. The questionnaires are designed to cover persons aged 18 years and over.

Comments:

There are two other ways of categorising this information:

Regular and irregular smokers where a regular smoker includes someone who is a daily smoker or a weekly smoker. 'Regular' smoker is the preferred category to be reported in prevalence estimates.
Daily and occasional smokers where an occasional smoker includes someone who is a weekly or irregular smoker. The category of 'occasional' smoker can be used when the aim of the study is to draw contrast between daily smokers and other smokers.
Where this information is collected by survey and the sample permits, population estimates should be presented by sex and 5-year age groups. Summary statistics may need to be adjusted for age and other relevant variables.

Smoker type is used to define subpopulations of adults (age 18+ years) based on their smoking behaviour.

Smoking has long been known as a health risk factor. Population studies indicate a relationship between smoking and increased mortality/morbidity.

This data element can be used to estimate smoking prevalence. Other uses are:

To evaluate health promotion and disease prevention programs (assessment of interventions)
To monitor health risk factors and progress towards National Health Goals and Targets

It is recommended that in surveys of smoking, data on age, sex and other socio-demographic variables should be collected. It is also recommended that when smoking is investigated in relation to health, data on other risk factors including pregnancy status, physical activity, overweight and obesity, and alcohol consumption should be collected.