A new measure of youth cigarette smoking
American students' 30-day smoking prevalence has decreased dramatically over the past two decades. The frequency of smoking within the 30-day measure has shifted from heavy smoking (>1/2 pack/day) toward light smoking (<1 to 5 cigarettes/day). 30-day prevalence thus understates the extent...
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doaj-e68d6018ee3d4ca9a6b28474b3377b132020-11-25T02:55:48ZengElsevierPreventive Medicine Reports2211-33552018-12-01127578A new measure of youth cigarette smokingKenneth E. Warner0Dept. of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USAAmerican students' 30-day smoking prevalence has decreased dramatically over the past two decades. The frequency of smoking within the 30-day measure has shifted from heavy smoking (>1/2 pack/day) toward light smoking (<1 to 5 cigarettes/day). 30-day prevalence thus understates the extent of the decline in youth smoking. To capture this shift toward less frequent smoking among the decreasing proportion of students who smoke, I develop a new index: the average number of cigarettes smoked per student per day (ACSD), using data from Monitoring the Future. To calculate ACSD I assign a specific number of cigarettes to each of 7 response options to the question, “How frequently have you smoked cigarettes during the past 30 days?” Response options range from “not at all” (assigned 0 cigarettes) to “two packs or more per day” (assigned 45 cigarettes). I then multiply these estimates by the proportion of students giving each response option. Summing across the 7 categories produces the ACSD for that survey year. I then compare time trends in 30-day prevalence and ACSD. From the mid-1990s to 2016, 30-day smoking prevalence among 12th graders declined 71.3%, while ACSD dropped 83.9% (p < 0.001). The figures were 84.0% and 90.6% (p < 0.001) for 10th graders and 87.4% and 89.0% for 8th graders (p < 0.05). Sensitivity analysis supports the finding that ACSD has decreased more than 30-day prevalence over time for both 10th and 12th grades. ACSD provides a new measure of the decline in youth smoking to complement the traditional measure of 30-day prevalence. Keywords: Cigarette smoking, Youth, Students, Prevalence, Measurementhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335518301682 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kenneth E. Warner |
spellingShingle |
Kenneth E. Warner A new measure of youth cigarette smoking Preventive Medicine Reports |
author_facet |
Kenneth E. Warner |
author_sort |
Kenneth E. Warner |
title |
A new measure of youth cigarette smoking |
title_short |
A new measure of youth cigarette smoking |
title_full |
A new measure of youth cigarette smoking |
title_fullStr |
A new measure of youth cigarette smoking |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new measure of youth cigarette smoking |
title_sort |
new measure of youth cigarette smoking |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Preventive Medicine Reports |
issn |
2211-3355 |
publishDate |
2018-12-01 |
description |
American students' 30-day smoking prevalence has decreased dramatically over the past two decades. The frequency of smoking within the 30-day measure has shifted from heavy smoking (>1/2 pack/day) toward light smoking (<1 to 5 cigarettes/day). 30-day prevalence thus understates the extent of the decline in youth smoking. To capture this shift toward less frequent smoking among the decreasing proportion of students who smoke, I develop a new index: the average number of cigarettes smoked per student per day (ACSD), using data from Monitoring the Future. To calculate ACSD I assign a specific number of cigarettes to each of 7 response options to the question, “How frequently have you smoked cigarettes during the past 30 days?” Response options range from “not at all” (assigned 0 cigarettes) to “two packs or more per day” (assigned 45 cigarettes). I then multiply these estimates by the proportion of students giving each response option. Summing across the 7 categories produces the ACSD for that survey year. I then compare time trends in 30-day prevalence and ACSD. From the mid-1990s to 2016, 30-day smoking prevalence among 12th graders declined 71.3%, while ACSD dropped 83.9% (p < 0.001). The figures were 84.0% and 90.6% (p < 0.001) for 10th graders and 87.4% and 89.0% for 8th graders (p < 0.05). Sensitivity analysis supports the finding that ACSD has decreased more than 30-day prevalence over time for both 10th and 12th grades. ACSD provides a new measure of the decline in youth smoking to complement the traditional measure of 30-day prevalence. Keywords: Cigarette smoking, Youth, Students, Prevalence, Measurement |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335518301682 |
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