Technical Report - Donegal Traveller's Project

Health Survey FindingsSmoking, Alcohol and Illicit DrugsOverall 52.5% in ROI and 50.8% in NI were current smokers, 43.5% in ROI and 38.4% in NI were regularsmokers, and a further 9% in ROI and 12.4% in NI were occasional smokers. Rates in men and womenwere comparable in ROI but somewhat lower in women (47.8%) than men (53.9%) in NI. Rates droppedsteeply in the over-65 age group. Total daily cigarette consumption was high, with a majority ofsmokers (67.2% in ROI and 57% in NI, reporting smoking 16 or more cigarettes per day. Overall themajority of persons who described themselves as non-smokers indicated that they had never smoked,a reasonably consistent pattern across age groups. This raises questions about the efficacy of smokingcessation strategies in the Traveller group.Table 160: Do you smoke cigarettes now? (Questionnaire item C1_11)Regularly Occasionally Does not smoke now nTotal ROI 43.5% 9.0% 47.5% 1,647NI 38.4% 12.4% 49.2% 396Male ROI 44.3% 10.6% 45.1% 697NI 41.9% 12.0% 46.1% 191Female ROI 42.9% 7.8% 49.3% 949NI 35.1% 12.7% 52.2% 205Under 30 ROI 43.1% 9.1% 47.7% 733NI 31.7% 9.8% 58.5% 20530-44 ROI 46.4% 8.7% 44.9% 425NI 43.5% 17.6% 38.9% 13145 + ROI 40.6% 9.1% 50.4% 397NI 50.0% 10.0% 40.0% 60Table 161: For regular or occasional cigarette smokers. In a day, how many cigarettes do youusually smoke? (Questionnaire item C1_12)0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31 + nTotal ROI 8.4% 17.6% 6.8% 38.3% 11.9% 17.0% 835NI 14.1% 14.6% 14.1% 24.7% 17.7% 14.6% 198Male ROI 8.3% 12.8% 6.9% 36.3% 12.0% 23.7% 375NI 12.7% 10.8% 12.7% 24.5% 19.6% 19.6% 102Female ROI 8.5% 21.6% 6.8% 39.9% 11.8% 11.5% 459NI 15.6% 18.8% 15.6% 25.0% 15.6% 9.4% 96Under 30 ROI 8.7% 21.8% 7.1% 41.5% 10.0% 11.0% 381NI 16.9% 19.3% 18.1% 30.1% 8.4% 7.2% 8330-44 ROI 7.9% 16.2% 9.2% 38.4% 14.4% 14.0% 229NI 12.5% 15.0% 12.5% 25.0% 22.5% 12.5% 8045 + ROI 9.2% 11.3% 3.6% 32.8% 11.3% 31.8% 195NI 11.4% 2.9% 8.6% 11.4% 28.6% 37.1% 35(of those who currently smoke)137