Surveillance and Evaluation Data Resources for Comprehensive Tobacco
Control Programs
About this Book
Surveillance and Evaluation Data Resources is an at-a-glance
compilation of sources of data useful for tobacco control programs that are
conducting surveillance or evaluation. Our objective is to provide basic
information on each data source to assist state tobacco control programs
identify data that are relevant to planning, monitoring, and evaluation. The
data sources listed here provide a wide variety of tobacco-related information.
For example, the NTCP Chronicle and local program monitoring have useful data on
programmatic activities; restaurant and work-site surveys, key informant
surveys, and third-party payer surveys have data on environmental policies and
indicators; the Youth Tobacco Survey, Adult Tobacco Survey, and media evaluation
surveys have data on individual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; and the
cancer registries and hospital discharge records have data on health outcomes.
Data sources checked as "used frequently and comparable across states" are
often used to help states develop tobacco program objectives. Data from these
sources can be used to compare program impact and outcomes with those of other
states and the nation as a whole.
The data sources are organized under major categories: national and state
surveys and tools, registries and vital statistics, and topic-specific tools.
The columns in each table provide the following information:
Column 1: Data Source
- Name of the data source.
- General description of the data source.
Column 2: Tobacco–Related Indicators
- Topics on which information is available. For example, environmental
tobacco smoke, tobacco-related policies, brand preferences, type of
tobacco product (cigarette, cigar, pipe, smokeless tobacco, kretek, or
bidi).
- The range in the number of tobacco-related questions included in the
survey instrument, or—if applicable— within the core instrument,
modules, or supplements.
Column 3: Sampling Frame
- The level of information available: national, state, community, or
local.
- Details on target or study population (e.g., adults, pregnant women)
or factors that were studied (e.g., media campaigns, number of telephone
calls, hospital records).
Column 4: Methodology (a); Frequency (b); Years Completed (c)
- (a) Study design and data collection mode (e.g., random sample,
telephone survey; convenience sample, unannounced interviews).
- (b) How often surveys are conducted (e.g., annually, periodically).
- (c) The years when data were collected.
Column 5: Comments
- Additional useful information.
Column 6: Contact
- Phone number or Internet address of the organization where you can
obtain more information.
Not all of the data sources are available in every state. Consequently, some
states may consider investing funds to develop systems to address gaps in data.
New data collection systems should be directly relevant to state programmatic
goals, objectives, and activities. However, prior to choosing data sources or
investing resources to develop new data systems, programs should consider some
of the following issues: timeliness, frequency, comparability, credibility, and
available resources. For more information on these considerations, please see
CDC’s 2001 publication An Introduction to Evaluation: Planning,
Implementation and Use, or contact the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health’s
State Surveillance and Evaluation Team (telephone: 770–488–5703).
Acknowledgments
We thank the following people from the Office on Smoking and Health for their
assistance in coordinating, reviewing, and producing this document: Jeffrey
Fellows, Lawrence Green, Corinne Husten, Goldie MacDonald, Lisa Petersen, Terry
Pechacek, Eric Pevzner, Sheila Porter, Heather Ryan, Donald Sharp, Gabrielle
Starr, Eric Wiesen, and Pascale Wortley.
We give special thanks to Claudia Bohner, Utah Department of Health and Julie
Doetsch, Illinois Department of Public Health for their reviews of an earlier
draft of this document.
Page last updated 02/28/2007
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