Magalhaes Monica, Manderski Michelle T Bover, Jeong Michelle, Young William J, Steinberg Michael B, Eyal Nir
Fundação José Luiz Egydio Setúbal, São Paulo, Brazil.
Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
AJPM Focus. 2025 May 9;4(5):100363. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2025.100363. eCollection 2025 Oct.
Emerging evidence suggests that E-cigarettes are likely less harmful than combustible cigarettes, presenting an opportunity for adults who smoke to quit or switch. E-cigarettes also risk increasing the number of young people who become addicted to nicotine. Physicians' perceptions of and attitudes toward this tradeoff remain underexplored.
A random sample of U.S. physicians (N=940) were surveyed on a variety of tobacco-related issues and on their treatment practices and demographics. Questions aimed to elicit tradeoffs between protecting youth from becoming addicted to nicotine and helping adult smokers quit.
Most respondents (93%) reported caring about both helping adults quit smoking and protecting the young, with the majority (66.2%) prioritizing the latter. Of the various specialties, pediatricians were most likely to believe that preventing nicotine addiction among young people matters more than helping adults quit. Prioritization of youth over adults who smoke was also associated with being female, being younger, and having negative beliefs about the utility of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation.
The findings show that physicians attribute greater ethical priority to protecting young people than to reducing risk to adults. Improved education on the risks versus benefits of E-cigarettes may assist physicians in making appropriate recommendations depending on patients' needs.
新出现的证据表明，电子烟的危害可能低于可燃香烟，这为吸烟的成年人戒烟或改用电子烟提供了契机。电子烟也有增加年轻人对尼古丁上瘾人数的风险。医生对这种权衡的看法和态度仍未得到充分研究。
对美国医生的随机样本（N = 940）进行了调查，内容涉及各种与烟草相关的问题、他们的治疗方法和人口统计学特征。问题旨在引出在保护年轻人不沉迷尼古丁与帮助成年吸烟者戒烟之间的权衡。
大多数受访者（93%）表示既关心帮助成年人戒烟，也关心保护年轻人，其中大多数人（66.2%）将后者列为优先事项。在各个专业中，儿科医生最有可能认为防止年轻人尼古丁成瘾比帮助成年人戒烟更重要。将年轻人置于吸烟成年人之上的优先排序也与女性、较年轻以及对电子烟在戒烟方面的效用持负面看法有关。
研究结果表明，医生在道德上更优先考虑保护年轻人，而不是降低成年人的风险。加强对电子烟风险与益处的教育可能有助于医生根据患者需求提出适当建议。
