Open AccessEstimates of smoking and related behaviour in an immigrant Lebanese community: does survey method matter?
Author(s) -
Rissel Chris,
Ward Jeanette E.,
Jorm Louisa
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-842x.1999.tb01313.x
Subject(s) - cluster sampling , telephone survey , immigration , ethnic group , demography , sample (material) , cluster (spacecraft) , sampling (signal processing) , survey methodology , medicine , environmental health , geography , advertising , sociology , population , anthropology , computer science , business , programming language , filter (signal processing) , computer vision , chemistry , archaeology , chromatography , pathology
Objective: To estimate the prevalence of smoking, stage‐of‐change and GP advice to quit in the Sydney Lebanese community and whether these findings varied by survey method. Method: Three methods ‐ telephone interviews using sampling from the electronic White Pages, personal interviews of a household member selected using cluster sampling and a mailed survey using an electoral roll sample ‐ were used in separate surveys of persons born in Lebanon living in three postcode areas of Sydney in 1997. Results: Smoking prevalence was consistent across the three methods, with male smoking averaging 49% and female smoking averaging 29%. About two‐thirds of smoking respondents across each of the survey methods had no plans for quitting. Conclusions: As smoking prevalence did not vary across the three sampling and survey methods used here, the simplest and most inexpensive method (the electronic White Pages and telephone surveying of identifiable ethnic surnames) should be preferred. Implications: Smoking prevalence in the Sydney Lebanese community is determined consistently using a variety of survey methods.