School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Tob Control. 2020 Sep;29(5):556-563. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054863. Epub 2019 Aug 28.
The USA must publicly share information about harmful and potentially harmful constituents (chemicals) in tobacco products. We sought to understand whether webpages with chemical information are "understandable and not misleading to a lay person."
Participants were a national probability sample of US adults and adolescents (=1441, 18% smokers). In an online experiment, we randomly assigned participants to view one of the developed webpages (chemical names only, names with quantity ranges, names with visual risk indicators) or no webpage in phase one (between subjects). Participants completed a survey assessing knowledge, misunderstanding, perceived likelihood, perceived severity of health effects from smoking and quit intentions (smokers only). In phase two (within subjects), participants viewed all three webpage formats and reported webpage perceptions (clarity, usability, usefulness) and perceived impact (affect, elaboration, perceived effectiveness).
In phase one, viewing any webpage led to more knowledge of chemicals (48%-54% vs 28% no webpage, s<0.001) and health harms (77% vs 67% no webpage, s<0.001). When exposed to any webpage, 5%-23% endorsed misunderstandings that some cigarettes are safer than others. Webpage format did not affect knowledge or reduce misunderstandings. Viewing any webpage led to higher perceived likelihood of experiencing health effects from smoking (0.001) and, among smokers, greater intentions to quit smoking (=0.04). In phase two, where participants viewed all formats, a visual risk indicator led to the highest perceived impact.
Knowledge of chemicals and health effects can increase after viewing a website. Yet, websites may not correct the misunderstanding that some cigarettes are safer.
美国必须公开分享烟草产品中有害和潜在有害成分（化学物质）的信息。我们试图了解关于化学物质信息的网页是否“易于理解且不会误导非专业人士”。
参与者是美国成年人和青少年的全国概率样本（=1441 人，18%为吸烟者）。在一项在线实验中，我们随机分配参与者在第一阶段（组间）查看开发的网页之一（仅化学名称、带数量范围的名称、带视觉风险指标的名称）或不查看网页。参与者完成了一项调查，评估知识、误解、感知可能性、吸烟对健康影响的感知严重程度和戒烟意向（仅吸烟者）。在第二阶段（组内），参与者查看了所有三种网页格式，并报告了网页感知（清晰度、可用性、有用性）和感知影响（影响、阐述、感知效果）。
在第一阶段，查看任何网页都会导致更多的化学物质知识（48%-54%比不看网页的 28%，s<0.001）和健康危害知识（77%比不看网页的 67%，s<0.001）。当接触到任何网页时，5%-23%的人会误解某些香烟比其他香烟更安全。网页格式不会影响知识或减少误解。查看任何网页都会导致更高的感知吸烟会带来健康影响的可能性（0.001），并且在吸烟者中，戒烟意向更大（=0.04）。在第二阶段，参与者查看了所有格式，视觉风险指标导致了最高的感知影响。
查看网站后，对化学物质和健康影响的了解可能会增加。然而，网站可能无法纠正一些香烟更安全的误解。
