Unravelling India's tobacco epidemic--priorities and recommendations for the second round of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)

Pranay Lal; Satyanarayana Srinath; Sonu Goel; Rana J Singh; Deepak Sharma; Ravinder Kumar; Om Bera

doi:10.1177/1757975914536914

Unravelling India's tobacco epidemic--priorities and recommendations for the second round of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)

Glob Health Promot. 2015 Jun;22(2):7-19. doi: 10.1177/1757975914536914. Epub 2014 Jul 28.

Authors

Pranay Lal¹, Satyanarayana Srinath², Sonu Goel³, Rana J Singh², Deepak Sharma³, Ravinder Kumar², Om Bera²

Affiliations

¹ International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease - South-East Asia Office, New Delhi, India PLal@theunion.org.
² International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease - South-East Asia Office, New Delhi, India.
³ School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.

PMID: 25070857
DOI: 10.1177/1757975914536914

Abstract

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey, or GATS, has proved to be an invaluable tool for policymakers. In India, it highlighted the alarming rates of prevalence of use and risks both nationally and at state level. However, a rapid analysis of GATS-India shows that there are limitations in methods (sampling, questionnaire, measures undertaken to ensure data quality and management), which may impact the estimates of prevalence. This review discusses these potential weaknesses and recommends measures that can be adopted in the next round of surveys to overcome the limitations.

Keywords: Global Adult Tobacco Survey; India; prevalence; tobacco; tobacco control.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Age Factors
Female
Global Health
Guidelines as Topic*
Humans
India / epidemiology
Male
Middle Aged
Nicotiana / adverse effects
Prevalence
Public Health Surveillance
Risk Assessment
Sex Factors
Smoking / epidemiology*
Smoking Prevention*
Socioeconomic Factors