Learning Objectives: understand how powerful a continual, consistent tobacco use surveillance survey can be.
Abstract: The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) is a national survey of over 20,000 Canadians, with over-sampling of 15-24 year olds, that provides timely, reliable and continual data on tobacco use and related issues. Since February 1999, CTUMS has provided six-monthly and yearly data on changes in smoking status and amount smoked. Three full year data sets have now been released, 1999, 2000 and 2001. What have these three years of data collection revealed about smoking in Canada? Two decades ago 38% of Canadians were smokers. Currently, prevalence rates are the lowest they have ever been in Canadian history. While prevalence rates have reached new lows, quit rates have reached new highs. With one-half of ever smokers now being former smokers, there are now more former smokers than current. Further good news - after remaining a flat line since 1994, youth smoking, stubbornly remaining around 28% since the mid 1990s, seems to be decreasing. CTUMS, consistent with other surveys, has confirmed that prevalence rates for youth begin to raise at 15-17, peak at 20-22 and begin to decline by 23-24. Highlights of the first three years of results from this ground-breaking survey, as well as general trends in tobacco use in Canada since 1981, will be shown.
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