Terminology
Smoking status has been defined to be consistent with the definitions used in other national Health Canada surveys that collect data on tobacco use.
Smoking prevalence: the number of smokers in a specified group, divided by the total population of that group, expressed as a percentage. May also be referred to as the "smoking rate".
Cigarette consumption: the amount reported smoked by either daily or occasional smokers. In the CTUMS fact sheets and supplementary tables, the context for cigarette consumption is normally that of daily smokers.
Current smoker: includes daily smokers and non-daily smokers (also known as occasional smokers). Determined from the response to the question "At the present time do you smoke cigarettes every day, occasionally, or not at all?"
Daily smoker: refers to those who respond "every day" to the question "At the present time do you smoke cigarettes every day, occasionally or not at all?"
Non-daily smoker: often referred to as "occasional" smoker, refers to those who respond "Occasionally" to the question "At the present time do you smoke cigarettes every day, occasionally or not at all?"
Former smoker: was not smoking at the time of the interview, however, answered "YES" to the question "Have you smoked at least 100 cigarettes in your life?"
Short term quitter: former smoker who quit smoking less than one year prior to the survey. Determined by the response to the question "When did you stop smoking? Was it less than 1 year ago, 1 to 2 years ago, 3 to 5 years ago, or more than 5 years ago?"
Long term quitter: former smoker who quit smoking a year or more ago and has not resumed smoking during that time frame. Determined by the response to the question "When did you stop smoking? Was it less than 1 year ago, 1 to 2 years ago, 3 to 5 years ago, or more than 5 years ago?"
Ever-smokers: current and former smokers combined.
Quit rate: the ratio of the number of former smokers in a specified group divided by the number of ever-smokers in that group.
Never-smoker: was not smoking at the time of the interview and answered "NO" to the question "Have you smoked at least 100 cigarettes in your life?"
Non-smokers: former smokers and never-smokers combined.
Light smoker: a smoker who reports consuming between 1-10 cigarettes per day.
Moderate smoker: a smoker who reports consuming between 11-19 cigarettes per day.
Heavy smoker: a smoker who reports consuming 20 cigarettes or more per day.
Stages of Change: the 5 following stages describe readiness to quit smoking. They are defined according to the conventions of Prochaska and Velicer (1997).
Precontemplation: current smokers who answered "NO" to the question "Are you seriously considering quitting within the next six months?"
Contemplation: current smokers who either were seriously considering quitting within the next six months but answered "NO" to the question "Are you seriously considering quitting within the next 30 days?" OR were seriously considering quitting within the next 30 days, but did not try to quit for at least 24 hours during the past year (i.e., answered "NONE" to the question "In the last year, how many times have you quit for at least 24 hours?").
Preparation: current smokers who were seriously considering quitting within the next 30 days and had quit smoking at least once, for at least 24 hours, during the past year.
Action: former smokers (i.e., did not currently smoke) who had quit smoking within the past six months (inclusive).
Maintenance: former smokers who, at the time of the interview, had quit smoking at least six months ago.
This list of terminology contains definitions of terms that appear in fact sheets and supplementary tables based on the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS). If you have any questions related to these definitions or terms, or if you wish general information on CTUMS, please send an email to: TCP-PLT-questions@hc-sc.gc.ca.
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