5.2 Results - smoking prevalence
According to the Annual Population Survey (APS) results (2020) published by Office of National Statistics, smoking prevalence in adults aged 18 years and over in Kent (13.4%) and Medway (12.8%) was above the England (12.1%) and South East value (11%).
Smoking behaviour is information of interest to the fire service, as risk of fire can be assumed to be greater within this group of people; especially if someone smokes indoors. In comparison to the APS results, there was an under-representation of smokers in the customer insight sample in Kent (8%) and Medway (9%). It was found that smoking prevalence was highest amongst those aged 25 – 34 and 45- 54 years.
Most respondents reported smoking outside their home.
It is important to ensure representation of current smokers is achieved in Phase 2, as smoking can be considered a risk behaviour in terms of fire safety. One avenue to reach this group could be via greater collaboration between researchers and the Safe and Well team who visit current smokers. Further detail of smoking prevalence and habits in the customer insight sample can be found in Appendix B.