Introduction

The World Health Organization, CDC, and the Canadian Public Health Association, developed the GHPSS to collect data on tobacco use and cessation counseling among health professional students in all WHO member states.

GHPSS is a standardized school-based survey of third-year students pursuing advanced degrees in dentistry, medicine, nursing, or pharmacy. It is conducted in schools during regular class sessions. GHPSS follows an anonymous, self-administered format for data collection. GHPSS uses a core questionnaire on demographics, the prevalence of cigarette smoking and other tobacco use, knowledge and attitudes about tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, desire for smoking cessation, and training received regarding patient counseling on smoking cessation techniques. Questionnaires are translated into local languages as needed. GHPSS has a standardized methodology for selecting participating schools and classes and uniform data processing procedures.

Methodology

• School-based survey of third-year students in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy programs
• Can include public and private schools
• Sampling possibilities:
• Multistage sample design with schools selected proportional to enrollment size
• Classrooms chosen randomly within selected schools or
• Census of schools and students in countries with few health professional schools
• All students in selected classes eligible for participation
• Anonymous and confidential self-administered questionnaire
• Computer scannable answer sheets
• Requires only 30–40 minutes to administer
• Fieldwork conducted in 6–8 weeks
• Country-level data with regional level stratification possible
• Core questionnaire
• Countries may add questions to the questionnaire