Survey Methods of the 2018 International Tobacco Control (ITC) Japan Survey

Abstract

This paper describes the methods of the Wave 1 (2018) International Tobacco Control (ITC) Japan Survey. The respondents were adults aged 20 years and older in one of four user groups: (1) cigarette-only smokers who smoked at least monthly and used heated tobacco products (HTPs) not at all or less than weekly, (2) HTP-only users who used HTPs at least weekly and smoked cigarettes not at all or less than monthly, (3) cigarette-HTP dual users who smoked at least monthly and used HTPs at least weekly, and (4) non-users who had never smoked or who smoked less than monthly and used HTPs less than weekly. Eligible respondents were recruited by a commercial survey firm from its online panel. Respondents were allocated proportionally to sample strata based on demographic, geographic, and user type specifications benchmarked to a national reference. Survey weights, accounting for smoking/HTP use status, sex, age, education, and geography, were calibrated to benchmarks from a nationally representative survey in Japan. Response rate was 45.1% and cooperation rate was 96.3%. The total sample size was 4615 (3288 cigarette smokers, 164 exclusive HTP users, 549 cigarette-HTP dual users, and 614 non-users). The 2018 ITC Japan Survey sampling design and survey data collection methods will allow analyses to examine prospectively the use of cigarettes and HTPs in Japan and factors associated with the use of both products and of transitions between them.

Reasons for Regularly Using Heated Tobacco Products among Adult Current and Former Smokers in Japan: Finding from 2018 ITC Japan Survey

“…The survey response rate was 45.1%, and the cooperation rate was 96.3%. A detailed description of the ITC Japan Survey sample and methods is reported elsewhere [16,17]. Study procedures and materials were reviewed and cleared by the Office of Research Ethics, University of Waterloo, Canada (ORE# 22508/31428).…”

Methods of the 2020 (Wave 1) International Tobacco Control (ITC) Malaysia survey

“…The methods are consistent with 30 other ITC countries across the global ITC Project. Using the same protocols enables comparability of analyses across ITC countries 7,8,[11][12][13][14][15][16] .…”

“…'natural experiments') 7 , in which one group exposed to a policy is compared to another, unexposed group; 2) the use of longitudinal cohort designs 8 in which individuals are measured on the same key outcome variables over time 9,10 ; and 3) the measurement of appropriate policy-specific variables that are conceptually close to the policy being evaluated and less likely to be affected by other factors. These innovative strategies, including other explanatory variables (covariates), are unparalleled in the study of population-level interventions and produce a research design with the potential to make strong inferences about policy impact [11][12][13][14][15][16] .…”

Awareness of Marketing of Heated Tobacco Products and Cigarettes and Support for Tobacco Marketing Restrictions in Japan: Findings from the 2018 International Tobacco Control (ITC) Japan Survey

“…A full description of the study methods (compliant with the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys [34]) and survey design is available elsewhere [35,36]. Briefly, respondents were recruited from the Rakuten Insight panel in Japan.…”