Study title

Description of the Addiction Monitoring project Addiction Monitoring in Switzerland is an epidemiological monitoring system that was commissioned by the Federal Office of Public Health. It was designed to collect and disseminate information on the behaviour of the resident Swiss population in relation to psychoactive substances (tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs and medication) and the associated risks (dependency, health damage and psychosocial problems). The monitoring process comprised three parts: - An inventory of the data available in Switzerland on dependence - A continuous rolling survey of members of the public - A module related to young people’s consumption when they go out at the weekend. Addiction Monitoring in Switzerland was delivered jointly by Sucht Schweiz/Addiction Suisse in Lausanne, the University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive, IUMSP) in Lausanne, the Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (ISGF) in Zurich and the Social and Market Research Institute (ISBF Switzerland) in Zurich. The main component of Addiction Monitoring in Switzerland was a continuous rolling survey of addictive behaviours and related risks conducted among members of the public between January 2011 and December 2016. The survey’s aim was to fill gaps in the data on the development of addictive behaviour available in Switzerland. For this purpose, each year around 11,000 people age 15 or over resident in Switzerland were contacted by phone (landline and mobile) for an interview of around 25 minutes. Participation in the survey was voluntary, and the data were treated anonymously and in confidence in line with the data protection requirements.