Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
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We sought to assess physician knowledge/beliefs, self-efficacy, and experience/practice patterns surrounding smoking cessation and electronic cigarettes. ⋯ This study documents several important previously poorly characterized aspects of the role of electronic cigarettes in clinical care. The majority of US physicians are discussing electronic cigarettes in clinical contexts and a substantial proportion of US physicians have recommended electronic cigarettes to their patients. The extent of physician engagement on the topic of electronic cigarettes should be met with increased efforts to better characterize electronic cigarettes' appropriate role in smoking cessation and reduction.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Reduced Exposure to Harmful and Potentially Harmful Smoke Constituents With the Tobacco Heating System 2.1.
Heating rather than burning tobacco reduces levels of harmful and potentially harmful constituents, and consumer products using this approach aim to reduce exposure to tobacco toxicants. The Tobacco Heating System (THS) version 2.1 has been enhanced from earlier prototypes with an improved heat control and sensorial experience and thereby user acceptance. Exposure measurements are required to determine whether it may be possible to reduce the individual health risk compared to smoking combustible cigarettes (CCs). ⋯ Exposure markers to harmful and potentially harmful smoke constituents were lowered with the THS 2.1. Heating tobacco instead of burning can offer a potentially lower risk of delivering nicotine compared to CCs.
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are being used as cessation aids by many smokers despite a lack of empirical evidence regarding their safety and efficacy. We analyzed the association of e-cigarette use and smoking abstinence in a population of smokers accessing standard smoking cessation treatment (nicotine replacement therapy [NRT] plus behavioral counseling) through primary care clinics in Ontario, Canada. ⋯ This study confirms previous findings from observational studies regarding the negative association between e-cigarette use and smoking cessation, but in a large cohort of smokers enrolled in an evidence-based treatment program. The implications of these findings are that concurrent use of e-cigarettes during a quit attempt utilizing cost-free evidence-based treatment (NRT plus behavioral counseling) does not confer any added benefit and may hamper successful quitting.
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Reducing the widespread retail availability of tobacco could help realize tobacco endgame strategies. We assessed New Zealand smokers' perceptions of five potential policies designed to reduce the retail supply of tobacco, relative to a "benchmark" policy of annual tobacco tax increases. ⋯ Tobacco control advocates have proposed a range of policies to reduce tobacco retail outlet density, as part of endgame strategies. There are no published data on the relative effectiveness of different approaches, therefore it is unclear which would be most likely to reduce smoking prevalence. This study provides an insight into smokers' perspectives on the effectiveness of retail reduction strategies and indicates that some of these could be at least as effective in reducing initiation and promoting quitting as tax increases. Smokers' perceptions of the relative effectiveness of these policy options may help inform the advocacy efforts of the sector.
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To gain a better understanding of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use behavior and experience among adult e-cigarette users, with the goal of informing development of future e-cigarette use measures. ⋯ The current study provides timely information on adult e-cigarette use behavior, which is a crucial step in measuring this new phenomenon and assessing the risks associated with using e-cigarette products. Our findings reveal that vaping is not a mere replacement for combustible cigarette smoking and that many users of e-cigarettes enjoy product characteristics such as flavors and "clouds" that are unavailable in combustible cigarettes. Therefore, commonly available cigarette smoking measures are not well suited to measurement of e-cigarette use behavior, and indication that new measures need to be developed to accurately track e-cigarette use.