Standardization of definitions concerning smoking behavior among Japanese adolescents--results from the Japan Adolescent Smoking Survey (JASS)]

The aim of the Japan Adolescent Smoking Survey (JASS) is to standardize the definitions of smoking behavior among Japanese adolescents together with measurement methods and questionnaires concerned. A study of 9921 school children aged 9 to 18 years in 17 elementary schools, 16 junior high schools and 18 senior high schools in 9 prefectures, was conducted between June and July of 1989, to determine the relationship between actual smoking behavior during the past month or year and the "self-referent label" concerning their smoking status. The main results were as follows: 1) The percentage of those who smoked at least one cigarette during the past month showed a high degree of similarity to the percentage of those who referred to themselves as "regular smokers" or "occasional smokers". 2) Less than 10% of students who identified themselves as "never smokers" or "ex-smokers" smoked at least one cigarette during the past month, while more than 80% of students who referred to themselves as "regular smokers" or "occasional smokers" smoked during the past month. 3) On the whole, those who smoked 20 or more cigarettes during the past month referred to themselves as "regular smokers"; those who smoked between 2 and 19 cigarettes as "occasional smokers"; those who smoked 1 cigarette as "ex-smokers"; those who did not smoke during the past month as "never smokers". 4) The definition where students who smoked one cigarette during the past month are classified as a category of smoker, displayed a high level of sensitivity and specificity for all school-level groups and for both sexes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)