Are questions from the Italian National Health Survey adequate to measure prevalence of smoking among teens.
OBJECTIVE
Studies on the prevalence of smoking among Italian adolescents have generated inconsistent estimates. Notably, the Italian National Health Survey (INHS) generates relatively lower estimates than estimates reported in other studies. The INHS asks adults and adolescents if they are smokers or nonsmokers. Research has shown that adolescent smoking is unstable compared to that of adults, and that adolescents may acquire their identity as smokers only after smoking becomes more established. We hypothesized that the INHS prevalence estimates of adolescent smoking could be improved by adding questions on smoking behavior.


METHODS
During the school year 1993-1994, 471 participants responded to a brief survey on smoking experiences. We compared the prevalence of smoking behavior with the prevalence of smoking identity of participants (mean age = 16.18) who attended five high schools in two Northern Italian cities, Padova and Bergamo.


RESULTS
Measures of smoking behavior generated higher prevalence estimates than did measures of identity, particularly among occasional smokers.


CONCLUSIONS
The INHS should add behavioral measures of smoking to maximize the accuracy of prevalence estimates.
Maggi
Stefania
S
Centre for Early Education and Development Studies, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. smaggi@tru.ca
Linn
Gilat
G
Marion
Stephen A
SA
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009313:National Health Programs; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires