PSA- Guimaras covers 48 households for 2021 GATS

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Guimaras Provincial Statistical Office now enumerating the 48 sample Households (HHs) for the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS which, successfully started on November 3, 2021, and will conclude on December 4, 2021.

The 48 pre-identified sample households (HHs) were from there (3) Enumeration Areas (EAs) covering 3 barangays – Salvacion, Buenavista (16HHs); Sawang, Buenavista (16HHs); and San Roque, Nueva Valencia (16HHs).

“The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), a component of Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS), is a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

Losare also expounded that GATS is a nationally representative household survey of adults 15 years of age or older, who consider the country to be their usual place of residence, using a standard core questionnaire, sample design, data collection and management procedures that were reviewed and approved by international experts.

“It is intended to enhance the capacity of countries to design, implement and evaluate tobacco control interventions,” Losare said.

GATS uses a geographically clustered multistage sampling methodology to identify the specific household that Field Interviewers will contact.

“First, a country is divided into Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), segments within these Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), and households within the segments. Then, a random sample household is selected to participate in GATS,” Losare said.

The GATS interview consists of two parts: the Household Questionnaire and the Individual Questionnaire. The Household Questionnaire (household screening) and the Individual Questionnaire (individual interview) will be conducted using an electronic data collection device.

At each sample household, Field Interviewer will administer the Household Questionnaire to one adult who resides in the household to determine if the selected household meets GATS eligibility requirements in making a list or roster of all household members age 15 years or older.

“Once a roster of eligible residents of the household is completed, one individual will be randomly selected to complete the Individual Questionnaire”, Losare said.

“The Individual Questionnaire asks questions about background characteristics; tobacco smoking; electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products; smokeless tobacco, cessation; second-hand smoke; economics; media; and knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about tobacco,” Losare added.

GATS aims to produce national and urban-rural estimates among adults across countries of tobacco use, exposure to second-hand smoking and frequency of quit attempts, and measure the impact of various tobacco control and prevention initiatives at country level.

Losare also explained that the PSA Field Interviewer (FI) and Field Supervisor (FS) who shall undertake the surveys in several modes: through phone interview, online interview, or face-to-face interview using Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI), done with adherence to physical distancing and strictly following health protocols.

Losare also soliciting support to all sample households to provide accurate and reliable data.

“All information gathered will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and will be used solely as a reference of Department of Health for adjusting current policies and planning new health programs in the Philippine,” Losare said.