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The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions

BACKGROUND: Article 20 of the EU Tobacco Products Directive [TPD] stipulates that e-cigarette packets and refill products must carry a nicotine addiction health warning. Although previous studies conducted in North America have found that perceived harm, addictiveness and intention to use declined f...

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Autores principales: Kimber, Catherine, Frings, Daniel, Cox, Sharon, Albery, Ian, Dawkins, Lynne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6236990/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30428933
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6161-7
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author Kimber, Catherine
Frings, Daniel
Cox, Sharon
Albery, Ian
Dawkins, Lynne
author_facet Kimber, Catherine
Frings, Daniel
Cox, Sharon
Albery, Ian
Dawkins, Lynne
author_sort Kimber, Catherine
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Article 20 of the EU Tobacco Products Directive [TPD] stipulates that e-cigarette packets and refill products must carry a nicotine addiction health warning. Although previous studies conducted in North America have found that perceived harm, addictiveness and intention to use declined following exposure to e-cigarette health warnings, possible effects of the TPD health warnings on smokers and non-smokers has not been studied. This study will investigate the effects of the EU TPD e-cigarette health warnings and a comparative harm message (COMP; developed specifically for this study) on smokers’ and non-smokers’ perceptions of harm, addictiveness and social acceptability of e-cigarettes. Additionally, the potential effects of the TPD warnings and the COMP on smokers’ intentions to purchase and use e-cigarettes will be explored. METHODS/DESIGN: A sample of 2400 UK residents will be recruited in this experimental, randomised design, with Smoking status (Smoker vs. Non-smoker), TPD presence (TPD1 vs. TPD2 vs. No-TPD) and COMP presence (Presence vs. Absence) as between subjects independent variables, and Time (pre-post exposure of images) as a within subjects factor. Dependent variables comprise self-reported perceived harm, addictiveness, social acceptability, e-cigarettes’ effectiveness, intentions to purchase and use e-cigarettes. Cigarette dependence, previous e-cigarette exposure, and baseline intentions to quit will be measured as covariates. DISCUSSION: Health warnings, such as those implemented by the TPD, may help to prevent non-smokers from e-cigarettes use, but it is possible that they may inadvertently deter smokers from initiating use and substituting their tobacco smoking for e-cigarettes use if their content is deemed too negative. It is hoped that this study will help identify the most effective message or combination of messages that encourage use among smokers without promoting use among non-smokers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN76967031; date of registration: 23/10/18.
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spelling pubmed-62369902018-11-23 The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions Kimber, Catherine Frings, Daniel Cox, Sharon Albery, Ian Dawkins, Lynne BMC Public Health Study Protocol BACKGROUND: Article 20 of the EU Tobacco Products Directive [TPD] stipulates that e-cigarette packets and refill products must carry a nicotine addiction health warning. Although previous studies conducted in North America have found that perceived harm, addictiveness and intention to use declined following exposure to e-cigarette health warnings, possible effects of the TPD health warnings on smokers and non-smokers has not been studied. This study will investigate the effects of the EU TPD e-cigarette health warnings and a comparative harm message (COMP; developed specifically for this study) on smokers’ and non-smokers’ perceptions of harm, addictiveness and social acceptability of e-cigarettes. Additionally, the potential effects of the TPD warnings and the COMP on smokers’ intentions to purchase and use e-cigarettes will be explored. METHODS/DESIGN: A sample of 2400 UK residents will be recruited in this experimental, randomised design, with Smoking status (Smoker vs. Non-smoker), TPD presence (TPD1 vs. TPD2 vs. No-TPD) and COMP presence (Presence vs. Absence) as between subjects independent variables, and Time (pre-post exposure of images) as a within subjects factor. Dependent variables comprise self-reported perceived harm, addictiveness, social acceptability, e-cigarettes’ effectiveness, intentions to purchase and use e-cigarettes. Cigarette dependence, previous e-cigarette exposure, and baseline intentions to quit will be measured as covariates. DISCUSSION: Health warnings, such as those implemented by the TPD, may help to prevent non-smokers from e-cigarettes use, but it is possible that they may inadvertently deter smokers from initiating use and substituting their tobacco smoking for e-cigarettes use if their content is deemed too negative. It is hoped that this study will help identify the most effective message or combination of messages that encourage use among smokers without promoting use among non-smokers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN76967031; date of registration: 23/10/18. BioMed Central 2018-11-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6236990/ /pubmed/30428933 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6161-7 Text en © The Author(s). 2018 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Study Protocol
Kimber, Catherine
Frings, Daniel
Cox, Sharon
Albery, Ian
Dawkins, Lynne
The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
title The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
title_full The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
title_fullStr The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
title_full_unstemmed The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
title_short The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
title_sort effects of the european e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers’ and smokers’ risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
topic Study Protocol
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6236990/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30428933
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6161-7
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