Zulkiewicz Brittany A, Winickoff Jonathan P, Gottlieb Mark A, Emmons Karen M, Tan Andy S L
University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
Addict Behav Rep. 2024 Jan 4;19:100524. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2024.100524. eCollection 2024 Jun.
More brands are using tobacco-free nicotine (TFN) in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and these products are becoming increasingly popular. The term TFN and claims about its properties can mislead consumers about the harms and addictiveness of TFN e-cigarettes, which may increase initiation of these products among non-smokers or influence current smokers' decisions to adopt TFN e-cigarettes as a harm reduction measure.
We conducted an observational, cross-sectional survey of 777 adolesc aged 13-17 and 655 current adult cigarette smokers residing in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Vermont about their TFN e-cigarette awareness, use, perceptions, and susceptibility. We examined the association between prior awareness of TFN and use, perceptions, and susceptibility.
One-third of adolescents and adults reported being aware of TFN. TFN e-cigarette use was less common than tobacco-derived nicotine (TDN) e-cigarette use among adolescents (8.9 % vs. 30.5 %) and adults (21.1 % vs. 79.4 %). Compared to unaware adolescents, adolescents who were aware of TFN more frequently reported being more likely to use TFN compared to TDN e-cigarettes and that TFN e-cigarettes are more addictive than those containing TDN. Aware adult smokers more frequently reported that TFN e-cigarettes are more addictive than TDN e-cigarettes, TFN e-cigarettes cause some harm, TDN e-cigarettes cause little harm, and that TFN and TDN e-cigarettes are equally harmful than those who were unaware previously.
Public health education campaigns are needed to educate consumers about the harms and addictiveness of TFN e-cigarettes.
越来越多的品牌在电子烟中使用无烟草尼古丁（TFN），这些产品越来越受欢迎。TFN这个术语及其关于其特性的说法可能会误导消费者对TFN电子烟的危害和成瘾性的认识，这可能会增加非吸烟者对这些产品的尝试，或影响当前吸烟者采用TFN电子烟作为减少危害措施的决定。
我们对居住在马萨诸塞州、康涅狄格州、新罕布什尔州、罗德岛州或佛蒙特州的777名13至17岁青少年和655名成年现吸烟者进行了一项观察性横断面调查，了解他们对TFN电子烟的知晓情况、使用情况、认知和易感性。我们研究了之前对TFN的知晓与使用、认知和易感性之间的关联。
三分之一的青少年和成年人报告知晓TFN。在青少年中，TFN电子烟的使用比烟草衍生尼古丁（TDN）电子烟的使用更不常见（8.9%对30.5%），在成年人中也是如此（21.1%对79.4%）。与不知情的青少年相比，知晓TFN的青少年更频繁地报告说，与TDN电子烟相比，他们更有可能使用TFN，并且TFN电子烟比含TDN的电子烟更具成瘾性。知晓TFN的成年吸烟者更频繁地报告说，TFN电子烟比TDN电子烟更具成瘾性，TFN电子烟会造成一些危害，TDN电子烟几乎没有危害，并且TFN和TDN电子烟的危害程度相同，而那些之前不知情的吸烟者则不这么认为。
需要开展公共健康教育活动，让消费者了解TFN电子烟的危害和成瘾性。
