E-Cigarette Awareness and Perceived Harmfulness: Prevalence and Associations with Smoking-Cessation
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Am J Prev Med. 2014 Apr 28.
pii: S0749-3797(14)00107-X.
E-Cigarette Awareness
and Perceived Harmfulness: Prevalence and Associations with Smoking-Cessation
Outcomes.
Tan AS, Bigman CA.
This study describes the prevalence and correlates of e-cigarette awareness and
perceived harmfulness among U.S. adults and analyze whether these variables are
associated with smokers' past-year quit attempts and intention to quit.
METHODS: Data were obtained from the Health Information National Trends Survey
(HINTS 4 Cycle 2), conducted from October 2012 to January 2013. Data analyses
were performed from June to August 2013. RESULTS: Overall, 77% of respondents
were aware of e-cigarettes. Of these, 51% believed e-cigarettes were less
harmful than cigarettes. Among those who were aware of e-cigarettes, younger,
more educated respondents and current smokers (compared with former and
non-smokers) were more likely to believe that e-cigarettes were less harmful.
Awareness and perceived harm were not associated with smokers' past year quit
attempts or intention to quit. CONCLUSIONS: Overall e-cigarette awareness
increased whereas the proportion of smokers who perceived less harm of
e-cigarettes declined compared with earlier surveys. However, awareness and
perceived harm of e-cigarettes did not show evidence of promoting smoking
cessation at the population level.
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