Associations Between Nicotine Knowledge and Smoking Cessation Behaviors Among US Adults Who Smoke
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Misperceptions about nicotine's contribution to smoking-related health harms could complicate efforts to reduce the public health burden of smoking. Study goals were to describe nicotine knowledge among adults who smoke and investigate whether misperceiving nicotine as a source of health harm was associated with beneficial health behaviors, or lower uptake of using less harmful sources of nicotine to support smoking cessation attempts. METHOD: This study used longitudinal data from 9140 adults who participated in four waves of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study and were current smokers during the first wave. Logistic regressions estimated odds ratios for correct responses across six aspects of nicotine knowledge assessed in Wave 4. Longitudinal models estimated associations between misperceptions and cigarette consumption, and odds of making a quit attempt; self-reported cessation; e-cigarette use; and use of NRT or e-cigarettes to support quit attempts. RESULTS: Participants who were non-White, older, and had lower educational attainment or income tended to be least knowledgeable about nicotine. Misperceiving nicotine as harmful to health was associated with increased odds of quit attempts (AOR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.23), lower odds of cessation success (AOR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.73, 0.98) and e-cigarette use (AOR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.72, 0.86), and lower odds of using NRT (AOR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71, 0.99) or e-cigarettes to support quit attempts (AOR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.71). CONCLUSION: Harm reduction efforts may be impeded by misperceptions about nicotine. Further work should evaluate the effects of correcting such misperceptions through public education. IMPLICATIONS: This study provides longitudinal evidence that among adult smokers, misperceiving nicotine as a primary cause of smoking-related diseases may be associated with reduced cessation success and lower likelihood of using less harmful nicotine products. These misperceptions may therefore impede efforts to encourage smokers ready to quit to use evidence-based cessation support such as nicotine replacement during quit attempts and limit the success of policies designed to shift smokers to less harmful sources of nicotine. Further work should evaluate the longitudinal effects of correcting nicotine misperceptions through public education targeted toward adults who smoke.
Source: Nicotine & Tobacco Research
DOI: 10.1093/ntr/ntab246
Authors: L M Snell, S M Colby, T DeAtley, R Cassidy, J W Tidey
Institution: Brown University
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: University of Vermont Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, Biopsychosocial Factors Associated with Cigarette and E-cigarette Use in Smokers with Affective Disorders, Evaluating New Nicotine Standards for Cigarettes, Impact of nicotine reduction on adolescent cigarette use, alternative tobacco use, and harm from tobacco, Substance Abuse Intervention Outcome Research Training, Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation
OpenAlex ID: W3216823215