Cigarette Relighting: A Series of Pilot Studies Investigating a Common Yet Understudied Smoking Beha
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Heckman
CJ, Wackowski OA, Mukherjee R, Hatsukami DK, Stepanov I, Delnevo CD, Steinberg
MB.
Cigarette Relighting: A
Series of Pilot Studies Investigating a Common Yet Understudied Smoking
Behavior.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 16;18(12):6494. doi:
10.3390/ijerph18126494. PMID: 34208528.
Background.
The act of extinguishing, saving, and later relighting unfinished cigarettes is
a common yet understudied behavior that may have implications for tobacco
treatment and health.
Methods.
This paper presents four pilot studies investigating various aspects of this
topic: (1) the prevalence of relighting among NJ and NY Quitline callers (n =
20,984); (2) the prevalence and correlates of relighting in two national
surveys (n = 1008, n = 1018); (3) a within-subject (n = 16) laboratory
experiment comparing cigarettes smoked per day and exhaled carbon monoxide when
relighting and not relighting cigarettes; and (4) a national survey of tobacco
treatment providers' (n = 150) perceptions of relighting.
Results.
Relighting was found to be common (approximately 45% of smokers), and
associated with lower socioeconomic status, heavier smoking and nicotine
dependence, greater smoking-related concerns, as well as high levels of exhaled
carbon monoxide. Providers noted the potential importance of relighting but
reported that they do not regularly incorporate it into their assessment or
tobacco treatment planning.
Conclusions.
These findings address a major research gap in the emerging research on this
common behavior. Future research is needed to better understand the potential
implications of relighting for policies and clinical practices related to
tobacco cessation and health.
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