Timeline follow-back versus global self-reports of tobacco smoking: A comparison of findings with nondaily smokers.

Abstract

Methods assessing non-daily smoking are of concern because biochemical measures can not verify self-reports beyond 7 days. This study compares two self-reported smoking measures for non-daily smokers. A total of 389 college students, (48% female, 96% white, mean age of 19) smoking between 1 and 29 days out of the past 30, completed computer assessments in three cohorts with the order of administration of the measures counterbalanced. Values from the two measures were highly correlated. Comparisons of Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) with the global questions for the total sample of non-daily smokers yielded statistically significant differences (p<.001), albeit small, between measures with the TLFB resulting on average in 2.38 more total cigarettes smoked out of the past 30 days, 0.46 less smoking days, and 0.21 more cigarettes smoked per day. Analyses by level of smoking showed that the discordance between the measures differed by frequency of smoking. Global questions of days smoked resulted in frequent reporting in multiples of five days, suggesting digit bias. Overall the two measures of smoking were highly correlated and equally effective for identifying any smoking in a 30-day period among non-daily smokers. KeywordsAssessment; Timeline Follow-back; tobacco; smoking; college students Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Kari Jo Harris, 32 Campus Drive, School of Public and Community Health Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812., Kari.Harris@umontana.edu;. Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/journals/adb NIH Public Access Methods to assess non-daily smoking have been a topic of concern and debate among researchers particularly because there are no biochemical methods to verify self-reported smoking over a 30-day period (Mermelstein et al., 2002). Similar to younger students and an increasing proportion of adult smokers, many college students smoke irregularly and infrequently. Of the college students who smoked at least once in the past 30 days, only about one in four smoked every day Wetter et al., 2004). Researchers have used multiple methods to assess self-reported smoking among college students, including the use of single-item global questions. Single-item global questions have focused on establishing any smoking in the past 30 days (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2007) and assessing days of smoking (Core Institute, 1999). Single-item questions that conflate smoking days and number of cigarettes smoked in one question (Wechsle...

Examining the stability of young-adult alcohol and tobacco co-use: A latent transition analysis

“…After screening for eligibility, a trained research assistant explained study participation and Sobell, Sobell, Klajner, Pavan, & Basian, 1986), which has been shown to have good psychometric properties when assessing alcohol and tobacco use, including nondaily tobacco use (Harris et al, 2009), with college students. Past 30-day data from the TLFB were used to compute number of smoking days, number of total cigarettes smoked, number of total drinks consumed, and number of binge drinking episodes.…”

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Correlates of Digit Bias in Self-reporting of Cigarette per Day (CPD) Frequency: Results from Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), India and its Implications

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