Designed as standardized tool to collect data on tobacco use among youth in countries around the globe, the GYTS is a school-based survey of students aged 13-15 years. It provides a uniform methodology for constructing a sample frame, selecting schools and classes, preparing questionnaires, conducting fieldwork, and managing, processing, and analyzing data. Composed of 56 core questions, the GYTS questionnaire covers topics such as young people’s knowledge and attitudes about smoking, prevalence of tobacco use, the role of advertising and media in tobacco use, and access to cigarettes.

The Democratic Republic of Congo-Lubumbashi GYTS was a school-based survey of students in Secondary 1, 2, 3, and 4 conducted in 2008. The school response rate was 100.0%, the class response rate was 98.7%, the student response rate was 68.7% and the overall response rate was 67.8%. A total of 689 13-15 year old students participated.