Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies, 303 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Addict Behav. 2021 Sep;120:106965. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106965. Epub 2021 Apr 27.
Nicotine in e-cigarettes typically is labeled as mg/ml or percent nicotine, but these metrics may be difficult to understand. We examined whether adults who use e-cigarettes accurately can compare nicotine concentrations presented as mg/ml and percent and/or can identify the strength of concentrations presented using these metrics.
310 adults completed an online survey in 2020. Participants viewed nicotine concentration pairs (e.g., 24 mg/ml vs 3%) and indicated which concentration was stronger or if they were equal. Participants also categorized nicotine concentrations presented as mg/ml (0-60 mg/ml) and percent (0-6%) into strength categories (no nicotine, very low, low, medium, high, very high). "Correct" answers for the strength of each concentration (e.g., 30 mg/ml is "high" nicotine) were based on the subjective opinion of e-cigarette researchers.
When making direct comparisons, adults correctly identified that one concentration was stronger or that both were equivalent about half of the time (8.30 [5.08] of 19). Adults answered correctly more often when the stronger concentration was presented in mg/ml (4.75 [2.74] of 8) than percent (2.54 [2.60] of 8), p < .001). Adults "correctly" identified the strengths of 8.90 (3.22) of 18 nicotine concentrations, with more "correct" responses for mg/ml (5.27 [2.15]) than percent (3.63 [1.71], p < .001). Adults classified concentrations presented as percent as weaker than equivalent concentrations presented as mg/ml.
Adults had difficulty understanding nicotine concentrations labeled using the most common metrics, especially percent nicotine. A singular, easy-to-understand labeling system may increase public knowledge about the nicotine concentration/strength of vaping products.
电子烟中的尼古丁通常以毫克/毫升或百分比尼古丁表示，但这些指标可能难以理解。我们研究了使用电子烟的成年人是否能够准确比较以毫克/毫升和百分比表示的尼古丁浓度，以及是否能够识别使用这些指标表示的浓度强度。
2020 年，310 名成年人完成了一项在线调查。参与者查看了尼古丁浓度对（例如，24 毫克/毫升与 3%），并指出哪个浓度更强或是否相等。参与者还将以毫克/毫升（0-60 毫克/毫升）和百分比（0-6%）表示的尼古丁浓度分为强度类别（无尼古丁、极低、低、中、高、极高）。每个浓度强度的“正确”答案（例如，30 毫克/毫升是“高”尼古丁）是基于电子烟研究人员的主观意见。
在进行直接比较时，成年人大约有一半的时间正确地确定一个浓度更强或两个浓度相等（19 次中有 8.30 [5.08]次）。当较强浓度以毫克/毫升（8 次中有 4.75 [2.74]次）而不是百分比（8 次中有 2.54 [2.60]次）呈现时，成年人的回答更正确，p<0.001）。成年人“正确”识别了 18 个尼古丁浓度中的 8.90（3.22）个，mg/ml（5.27 [2.15]）的“正确”反应多于百分比（3.63 [1.71]，p<0.001）。成年人将以百分比表示的浓度分类为比等效的以毫克/毫升表示的浓度弱。
成年人很难理解以最常见指标表示的尼古丁浓度，尤其是百分比尼古丁。一个单一的、易于理解的标签系统可能会增加公众对电子烟产品尼古丁浓度/强度的了解。
