New Journal Article Assesses Research Methods for Longitudinal Study of Tobacco and Health

Westat’s Andrea Piesse, Ph.D., the lead author of a new journal article, notes that the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study is a rich resource for regulatory scientists interested in studying tobacco use. The PATH Study is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of the U.S. population on tobacco use and its effects on health, funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and administered by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

“The quality metrics indicate that the PATH Study sample of approximately 40,000 continuing respondents remains representative of its target population,” Dr. Piesse notes. “The availability of multiple sets of specialized survey weights enables researchers to target a wide range of tobacco-related analytic questions.”

Published in Tobacco Regulatory Science, Longitudinal Uses of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study was coauthored by Dr. Piesse, Jean Opsomer, Ph.D., Sylvia Dohrmann, M.S., Ralph DiGaetano, M.A., David Morganstein, M.A., Kristie Taylor, Ph.D., and Charles Carusi, Ph.D., of Westat, and Andrew Hyland, Ph.D., of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.