Tobacco and Public Health - TCSC Indonesia

KONRAD JAMROZIK 553
because the data on both exposure and disease are collected at the level of an entire
community rather than for individuals, and care must be taken that some other
factor that influences the pattern of the disease of interest more directly, quickly, or
profoundly has not also changed during the period under study. In the case of
Australia, for example, the evidence suggests that smoking among men peaked either
during or soon after World War II (Hyndman et al. 1991) (see Fig. 32.1), which might
Fig. 32.1 Retrospective cohort analyses of smoking habits of Australian (a) men and
(b) women
Footnote, Each line on a graph plots the evolution of smoking habits in the set of men or
women born in a particular five-year period. The peak prevalence occurred among men in
their twenties at the time of World War II, and far preceded and exceeded that among
women, as did the rate of decline once the peak was passed. Overall, Australian women have
been slower to stop starting and to start stopping than their male counterparts.
Source: Hyndman et al. (1991)
Copyright: Health Department of Western Australia