From: Methodologies used to estimate tobacco-attributable mortality: a review
Method | Data employed | Data source | Method applied to estimate mortality due to: | Weaknesses | Strengths | Estimations calculated |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prevalence-based analysis in cohort studyes/SAMMEC (n = 52) | Prevalence | National Statistics | Tobacco consumption, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), obesity, alcohol intake,... | - Does not take latency into account. | - Worldwide use. | Attributable mortality for all causes. |
 | Relative Risks: Smokers, non-smokers and former smokers | Cohort study |  |  | - Application of risks other than CPS. |  |
Method proposed by Peto and colleagues (n = 6) | Relative Risks: Smokers and non-smokers | CPS II | Tobacco consumption. | - Assumes constant worldwide lung cancer mortality rates among never smokers. | - Worldwide use. | Attributable mortality for all causes. |
 | Lung cancer death rates: Global (non smokers + smokers + former smokers), non-smokers and smokers. | National Statistics/CPS II |  | - Assumes the same latency for all death causes related to tobacco. | - Mortality estimation in absence of smoking prevalence. |  |
 |  |  |  | - Does not take into account former smokers. | - Takes latency into account for lung cancer. |  |
Basic method (n = 1) | Lung cancer death rates | National Statistics | Tobacco consumption. | - Partial view of attributable mortality (only used to estimate mortality by lung cancer). | - Takes into account induction time. | Lung cancer death rate attributable and not attributable to active smoking. |
 | Prevalence | National statistics/Estimated |  | - Use of constants. | - Estimates smoking-adjusted RR in different time periods. |  |
 | Lung cancer relative risk | Calculated |  | - High need of information. |  |  |
 | Packs of cigarettes smoked | National statistics/Estimated |  | - Rate ratios for former smokers. |  |  |
 | Age of starting/giving up tobacco consumption | National statistics/Estimated |  | - Assumes constant worldwide lung cancer mortality rates among never smokers. |  |  |
 | Constants | Previous studies |  |  |  |  |
Prevent method (n = 2) | Composition of the population | National Statistics | Tobacco consumption and general scenarios of effective health promotion. | - High need of information. | -Takes into account the multiplicity of cause or effect. | Attributable mortality for all causes. |
 | Mortality (population) and birth (women) rates | National Statistics |  |  | - Proportional decrease in risk reduction related to time. |  |
 | Latency and delay | Previous studies |  |  | - To measure the results of intervention policies. |  |
 | Time-Tendency of tobacco consumption. | Personal interviews |  |  |  |  |
 | Relative risks | CPS II |  |  |  |  |
Prevalence-based analysis in case-control studyes (n = 4) | Mortality observed | National Statistics | Tobacco consumption and exposure to ETS. | - Case-control study design. | - Specific risk dates. | Attributable mortality for all causes. |
 | Exposure prevalence: case or controls | Case-control study |  | - Recall bias. |  |  |
 | Odds Ratios | Case-control study |  |  |  |  |
Garfinkel's method (n = 2) | Mortality observed | National Statistics | Tobacco consumption and alcohol intake. | - Partial view of the attributable mortality (only used to estimate cancer mortality). | - Necessary dates are few. | Cancer deaths attributable to smoking. |
 | Cancer mortality rates in non smokers. | American Cancer Society |  | - Assumes constant worldwide cancer mortality rates among never smokers. | - Does not use risks or prevalence. |  |
Rogers' method (n = 1) | Mortality observed (all causes) | National Statistics | Tobacco consumption. | - Availability of mortality registries. | - Risks calculated ad hoc. | Attributable mortality for all causes. |
 | Prevalence (7 categories) | Surveys |  | - Has a population representative survey about health-risks. | - The population division is more reliable. |  |
 | Odds Ratios | Discrete-time hazard models |  | - Assumption: smoking status remains steady since the survey about health-risks. |  |  |