Perceived harm of heated tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and nicotine replacement therapy compared with conventional cigarettes among ever and current heated tobacco users
Perceived harm of heated tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and nicotine replacement therapy compared with conventional cigarettes among ever and current heated tobacco users
Blog Article
Aims: There is limited knowledge on how ever and current heated tobacco product (HTP) users perceive the relative harm of various nicotine-containing products.The aim of this study was to explore relative harm perceptions of HTPs, e-cigarettes, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) relative to conventional cigarettes (CCs) among ever versus current HTP users, and exclusive (who use only a HTP) versus dual/poly-users (concurrent users of HTP and CCs and/or e-cigarettes).Methods: Data came from 1423 ever or current Hungarian adult HTP users who participated in a cross-sectional web-based survey in 2020.
Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the associations between relative harm perceptions, HTP use patterns, past tobacco use, HTP dependence, and socio-demographic variables.Results: 81.2% of the sample Pacifier Cloth was current HTP users, of them 78.
4% were exclusive HTP users.Compared to CCs, 86.2% of the sample perceived HTP to be less harmful, with current and exclusive HTP users endorsing more this belief, followed by Fresh Vegetables NRT (79.
8%), and e-cigarettes (45.2%).In general, neither socio-demographic variables nor past tobacco use, HTP use pattern, and HTP dependence were related to perceived harmfulness across the tested products.
However, there was a specific pattern for each tested product with a set of explanatory variables.Conclusions: Ever/current HTP users presented misperceptions about the harms of HTPs, e-cigarettes, and NRT.They underestimated the potential health benefits of NRT and had distorted harm perceptions about HTPs and e-cigarettes.
Public education about the relative harms of different nicotine and tobacco products is urgently needed.