Internationally recommended indicators for conducting population-based tobacco surveillance
1
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
2
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A3835
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
epidemiological surveillance of tobacco use is essential to understand the magnitude of the epidemic, guide tobacco control policies, and assess its impact on public health. This surveillance should be based on indicators describing prevalence and health and economic impact. The aim was to identify and compile indicators used internationally for tobacco surveillance, organized according to key analytical dimensions.
METHODS:
an exploratory review of international sources on tobacco surveillance was conducted. The search was carried out in September 2025 and included guidelines, technical manuals, reports, and population-based surveillance systems developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Union (EU). For each identified source, general characteristics were collected and indicators were extracted. Indicators were classified into four analytical dimensions: consumption or exposure, psychosocial aspects, health impact, and economic impact. For each indicator, information was collected on its operational definition, measurement method, data source, periodicity, target population, and level of disaggregation (sex, age, other sociodemographic variables).
RESULTS:
eleven international sources and 34 tobacco surveillance indicators were identified: 17 related to consumption and exposure dimension, six to psychosocial aspects, four to health impact, and seven to economic impact. The consumption and exposure dimension is mainly based on population surveys. The most consolidated indicator is the prevalence of tobacco use, although definitions of current smokers, former smokers, and never smokers vary. Surveillance of electronic cigarettes focuses on prevalence and frequency of use, while exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is mainly measured through prevalence and frequency in different settings. The psychosocial, health impact, and economic impact dimensions include indicators on population knowledge, attributable mortality and morbidity, burden of disease, and direct and indirect costs.
CONCLUSIONS:
despite consensus on the analytical dimensions, tobacco surveillance indicators remain highly heterogeneous, limiting global comparability.
epidemiological surveillance of tobacco use is essential to understand the magnitude of the epidemic, guide tobacco control policies, and assess its impact on public health. This surveillance should be based on indicators describing prevalence and health and economic impact. The aim was to identify and compile indicators used internationally for tobacco surveillance, organized according to key analytical dimensions.
METHODS:
an exploratory review of international sources on tobacco surveillance was conducted. The search was carried out in September 2025 and included guidelines, technical manuals, reports, and population-based surveillance systems developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Union (EU). For each identified source, general characteristics were collected and indicators were extracted. Indicators were classified into four analytical dimensions: consumption or exposure, psychosocial aspects, health impact, and economic impact. For each indicator, information was collected on its operational definition, measurement method, data source, periodicity, target population, and level of disaggregation (sex, age, other sociodemographic variables).
RESULTS:
eleven international sources and 34 tobacco surveillance indicators were identified: 17 related to consumption and exposure dimension, six to psychosocial aspects, four to health impact, and seven to economic impact. The consumption and exposure dimension is mainly based on population surveys. The most consolidated indicator is the prevalence of tobacco use, although definitions of current smokers, former smokers, and never smokers vary. Surveillance of electronic cigarettes focuses on prevalence and frequency of use, while exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is mainly measured through prevalence and frequency in different settings. The psychosocial, health impact, and economic impact dimensions include indicators on population knowledge, attributable mortality and morbidity, burden of disease, and direct and indirect costs.
CONCLUSIONS:
despite consensus on the analytical dimensions, tobacco surveillance indicators remain highly heterogeneous, limiting global comparability.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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