SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS INVESTIGATING THE UTILITIES OF ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENTS TO UNDERSTAND SMOKING ENVIRONMENTS IN INDIA

Abstract

In the 21st century, India has become one of the most affected countries by tobacco mortality in the world (Perry, 2009).The aim of this secondary data analysis was to determine the utility of Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) to better understand the perceived social and environmental cues that encourage and discourage tobacco use in India. However, published EMA studies have only been conducted in western countries.

This thesis was shaped by three research questions: What are individuals' tobacco behaviors and environments in India, does tobacco use and tobacco environments reported at baseline differ from EMA and end of day (EOD) data, and are there differences by age, gender, education or work status in the average number of completed EMA and EOD? Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted as part of the analysis plan. The analysis from this thesis will help direct future EMA research, particularly in non-western countries.