U.S. adult perceptions of the harmfulness of tobacco products: descriptive T findings from the 2013–14 baseline wave 1 of the path study

Authors

Geoffrey T. Fong, University of Waterloo & Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Tara Elton-Marshall, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health & University of Toronto & Western University & Ontario Tobacco Research UnitFollow
Pete Driezen, University of Waterloo
Annette R. Kaufman, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
K. Michael Cummings, Medical University of South Carolina
Kelvin Choi, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Jonathan Kwan, United States Food and Drug Administration
Amber Koblitz, United States Food and Drug Administration
Andrew Hyland, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo
Maansi Bansal-Travers, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo
Charles Carusi, Westat, Rockville
Mary E. Thompson, University of Waterloo

Date of this Version

2019

Document Type

Article

Citation

U.S. government works are not subject to copyright.

Comments

Addictive Behaviors 91 (2019) 180–187

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.11.023

Abstract

Introduction: This study is the first nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (18+) to examine perceptions of the relative harms of eight non-cigarette tobacco products.

Methods: Data are from Wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study Adult Questionnaire, a nationally representative study of 32,320 adults in the United States conducted from September 2013 to December 2014.

Results: 40.7% of adults believed that electronic cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes, and 17.8% of adults believed that hookah was less harmful than cigarettes. Those less knowledgeable about the health risks of smoking were more likely to believe that the non-cigarette products were less harmful than cigarettes. Current non-cigarette tobacco product users were more likely to perceive that product to be less harmful than cigarettes (except filtered cigars). There was a significant positive correlation between beliefs that cigarettes were harmful and the likelihood of using hookah; perceptions of the harmfulness of cigarettes was not associated with the likelihood of using any other product.

Conclusions: Perceptions of harmfulness varied widely across non-cigarette tobacco products. E-cigarettes and hookah in particular are seen as less harmful compared to cigarettes.