The National Betting Authority (NBA) of Cyprus revealed on Monday that the island country in the Eastern Mediterranean will be conducting what will reportedly be its first quantitative survey regarding gambling among its citizens and the frequency and characteristics of those who play.

The announcement was made during a press conference at which time NBA Chairwoman Ioanna Fiakou reportedly said the aim of the study was to determine the number of people who gamble and why, so the NBA can determine the extent of addiction and take the necessary measures to promote prevention and responsible gambling, as reported by the Cyprus Mail Online.

Fiakou said that Insights Market Research (IMR) Ltd has been commissioned by the authority to conduct the survey in which 3,000 individuals will be interviewed to study and determine the extent of the public’s participation in games of chance.

The Chairwoman said, “The survey’s goals focus on recording the extent of participation in gambling activities, identifying the extent of problematic participation among the public, studying gamblers’ social and demographic traits, the frequency with which they engage in gambling, and their budgeted and real spending in gambling.”

Other goals of the study reportedly include identifying to what extent the public is knowledgeable about legal and illegal gambling; distinguishing between such profiles as pathological, social and borderline addicted gamblers; analyzing the profile of the average pathological gambler and the public’s knowledge of the possible risks of gambling addiction, Fiakou said.

Personal interviews will be conducted on 3,000 individuals aged 13 to 17 for minors and adults aged 18 to 34, 35-49, 50-64 and 65 or older, who will be randomly selected. “The goal of separation by age group is that the authority will seek to take all necessary measures for each group and recommend the appropriate measures to the competent authorities,” Fiakou said.

The Chairwoman went on to say that district wise, of the individuals to be interviewed, the greatest number, 1,208 will be in Nicosia, followed by 863 in Limassol, in Larnaca there will be 516 interviewed and 257 in Paphoa and in Famagusta, 166 people will take part in the survey.

According to the Cyprus Mail Online, the interview will be conducted from Oct. 25 through the end of the year.