Characteristics of 12 040 UK adolescents who participated in the ASH Smokefree Great Britain Survey 2018–2022
| Characteristic | 2018 (n=2222) | 2019 (n=2466) | 2020 (n=2461) | 2021 (n=2482) | 2022 (n=2409) | Total (N=12 040) |
| Age (years), n (%) | * | |||||
| 11–13 | 684 (30.8) | 680 (27.6) | 703 (28.6) | 757 (30.5) | 705 (29.3) | 3529 (29.3) |
| 14–15 | 561 (25.2) | 546 (22.1) | 569 (23.1) | 577 (23.2) | 615 (25.5) | 2868 (23.8) |
| 16–17 | 506 (22.8) | 718 (29.1) | 723 (29.4) | 750 (30.2) | 658 (27.3) | 3355 (27.9) |
| 18 | 471 (21.2) | 522 (21.2) | 466 (18.9) | 398 (16.0) | 431 (17.9) | 2288 (19.0) |
| Gender, n (%) | ||||||
| Male | 1095 (49.3) | 1192 (48.3) | 1231 (50.0) | 1191 (48.0) | 1204 (50.0) | 5913 (49.1) |
| Female | 1127 (50.7) | 1274 (51.7) | 1230 (50.0) | 1291 (52.0) | 1205 (50.0) | 6127 (50.9) |
| Social grade, n (%) | ||||||
| ABC1 (higher) | 1520 (68.4) | 1781 (72.2) | 1736 (70.5) | 1754 (70.7) | 1703 (70.7) | 8494 (70.5) |
| C2DE (lower) | 702 (31.6) | 685 (27.8) | 725 (29.5) | 728 (29.3) | 706 (29.3) | 3546 (29.5) |
| Country, n (%) | ||||||
| England | 1954 (87.9) | 2120 (86.0) | 2129 (86.5) | 2123 (85.5) | 2085 (86.6) | 10 411 (86.5) |
| Wales | 100 (4.5) | 124 (5.0) | 116 (4.7) | 115 (4.6) | 105 (4.4) | 560 (4.7) |
| Scotland | 168 (7.6) | 222 (9.0) | 216 (8.8) | 244 (9.8) | 219 (9.1) | 1069 (8.9) |
| Current nicotine product use status†, n (%) | * | |||||
| Dual user | 43 (1.9) | 80 (3.2) | 81 (3.3) | 55 (2.2) | 104 (4.3) | 363 (3.0) |
| E-cigarette user | 42 (1.9) | 58 (2.4) | 54 (2.2) | 59 (2.4) | 141 (5.9) | 354 (2.9) |
| Cigarette user | 117 (5.3) | 128 (5.2) | 124 (5.0) | 70 (2.8) | 65 (2.7) | 504 (4.2) |
| Non-user | 2020 (90.9) | 2200 (89.2) | 2202 (89.5) | 2298 (92.6) | 2099 (87.1) | 10 819 (89.9) |
| Current e-cigarette use in the household, n (%) | * | |||||
| Yes | 354 (17.4) | 366 (16.0) | 387 (17.1) | 352 (16.1) | 457 (21.3) | 1,916 (17.6) |
| (Missing) | 190 | 185 | 200 | 299 | 267 | 1,141 |
| Current tobacco smoking in the household, n (%) | ||||||
| Yes | 194 (9.0) | 184 (7.7) | 183 (7.6) | 187 (7.7) | 199 (8.5) | 947 (8.1) |
| (Missing) | 68 | 63 | 46 | 68 | 63 | 308 |
*P<0.05 in Pearson’s χ2 test for the difference in covariates across survey years.
†‘Non-user’=not using tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes, ‘E-cigarette user only’=using e-cigarettes but not tobacco cigarettes, ‘Tobacco cigarette user only’=using tobacco cigarettes but not e-cigarettes, ‘Dual user’=using tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Cigarette users included responses of ‘sometimes but less than one a week’ to ‘more than six cigarettes a week’. E-cigarette users included ‘sometimes but no more than once a month’ to ‘every day’.
ASH, Action on Smoking and Health.