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Epidemiology

FLORIDA ADULT TOBACCO SURVEY

Introduction

The Florida Department of Health annually conducts the Florida Adult Tobacco Survey, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to monitor and evaluate smoking and tobacco-related health behaviors.  Evaluating adult tobacco use and cessation is critical to reducing smoking-related morbidity and mortality, to limiting exposure to secondhand smoke, and to promoting reductions in youth smoking.  Smoking causes more premature deaths than any other health-risk behavior in the United States (CDC, 2002; USDHHS, 2004).  According to the 2004 Surgeon General's Report on Smoking, smoking cigarettes harms nearly every organ in the body.  New evidence shows that smoking causes more diseases than known previously, including stomach cancer, uterine cancer, cataracts, and worsened health status generally.  Reductions in adult tobacco use would result in decreased exposure to secondhand smoke for all Floridians, a serious health risk for smoking-related diseases.  Furthermore, when adults abstain from smoking, they promote social norms that smoking is not a normative or acceptable behavior for youth.   

FLATS Methodology 

The Florida Adult Tobacco Survey is a confidential telephone survey drawn from the total non-institutionalized Florida adult (ages 18 or older) population residing in telephone-equipped households.  The survey interview is administered to randomly selected adults from randomly selected households throughout Florida.  First administered in Florida in 2003, the Adult Tobacco Survey is conducted in many other states throughout the U.S.  The survey provides detailed national and state-level information about smoking and tobacco-related health behaviors in the adult population.  

To ensure comparability across states, each state follows the same survey protocol guidelines developed by the CDC.  The survey consists of seven "core" sections which are asked in all states conducting the Adult Tobacco Survey.  Respondents are asked about their general health, tobacco use, demographic items, and health and social influences.  Additionally, FLATS includes one "state-added" section that asks a series of questions pertaining to the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act and about smoking in recreational facilities.  

The FLATS data are weighted to reflect the age, gender, racial/ethnic distribution of Florida's adult population, and to account for the differences in the probability of selection and non-response.  The response rate for the FLATS is calculated using the CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations) method. 

Definition of Variables Used in FLATS

  • Current smoking status is categorized in one of four ways: current everyday smoker, current some days smoker, former smoker, and never smoker. Current everyday smokers report smoking 100 more cigarettes in their lifetime and smoke everyday. Current some days smokers report smoking 100 or more cigarettes in their lifetime and smoke on some days. Former smokers are those who have smoked 100 or more cigarettes in their lifetime, but who do not smoke now. Never smokers are those who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Current smokers are those who report smoking 100 or more cigarettes and who smoke everyday or some days.

  • Cigarette consumption refers to the number of cigarettes smoked on average by current everyday and some days smokers. The FLATS asks respondents about the average number of cigarettes smoked per day for everyday smokers and the average number of cigarettes smoked in the past 30 days for some days smokers.

  • Number of Cigarettes Smoked Per Day is asked of current everyday smokers ("On average, about how many cigarettes a day do you smoke?") and current some days smokers ("During the past 30 days, on how many days did you smoke cigarettes?" and "On the average, when you smoked during the past 30 days, about how many cigarettes did smoke a day?").

  • Time Since Smoking Cigarettes Regularly is calculated for all former smokers ("About how long has it been since you last smoked cigarettes regularly?").

  • Quit Attempt is asked of all current everyday and some days smokers. Current smokers are asked if during the past 12 months if they stopped smoking for one day or longer because they were trying to quit smoking.

  • Methods of Quitting refers to the means current smokers used to quit smoking.

  • Stages of Change for Quitting queries current smokers if they are seriously considering stopping smoking within the next six months, and if so, if they are planning to stop smoking within the next 30 days.