Triggers To Smoking

Toronto, ON - A new survey finds that, among current and former Canadian adult smokers, the most common situations that cause or used to cause cravings to smoke are after a meal (41%), with a drink (40%), while experiencing stress or tension (26%) and spending time with friends (20%). Other situations mentioned include with coffee or tea (11%), at a party (11%), while driving (10%), when bored (10%), after waking in the morning (10%), among others.

• Canadians who smoke or used to smoke and are aged 35 to 54 (44%) are more likely than those ages 55 and older (33%) to mention they crave a smoke "with a drink".
• Cravings to have a smoke "with a drink" are also more common among males who smoke or used to smoke (44%) than female smokers and former smokers (35%). Conversely, "stressful or tense situations" are more frequently mentioned as craving triggers by females (34%) than males (19%). In addition, "spending time with friends" is more frequently mentioned as a trigger for females (26%) than males (15%).
• Younger smokers and former smokers aged 18 to 34 (27%) are more likely than their counterparts who are 55 and older (16%) to list "with friends" as a situation in which they get or used to get cravings to smoke.
• "Boredom" is given as a source for smoking cravings by more smokers and former smokers who are ages 18 to 34 (17%) than those who are ages 35 and up (8%).

One in Five Canadian Adults (20%) are Currently Smokers, Many of Whom (40%) are Trying To Quit

Currently, four in five Canadians (80%) are non-smokers (30% "former smoker" and 50% "never been a smoker"), whereas one in five Canadian adults are smokers (20%). Within all smokers, four in ten are presently trying to quit smoking (40%)

• Younger adults are more likely than older adults to have never been smokers (59% aged 18-34, 50% aged 35-54 and 40% aged 55+ never smoked).
• However, a different group of young adults are more likely than those aged 55 and older to be current smokers (23% aged 18 to 34 vs. 16% aged 55+ are current smokers)
• This is likely because many older adults tend to have already quit smoking (43% aged 55+, 30% aged 35 to 54 and 17% aged 18 to 34 are former smokers).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid/Pfizer poll conducted from September 27th to September 29th, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
Angela Hunter
Senior Research Manager
Ipsos Reid, Health Practice
416.324.2900
[email protected]

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