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Stephanie Smith, MPH, PhD Cand, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, 7th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21205, 443-622-3857, stsmith@jhsph.edu and Frances Stillman, EdD, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21209.
“Reduced risk” nicotine delivery products (e.g., purported low yield tobacco products, medicinal nicotine products, and novel nicotine products) allegedly aid smokers in cessation and/or provide safer substitutes for conventional tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or chew. However, an unintended consequence of “reduced risk” nicotine delivery products is that marketing these products as “safer,” “less harsh,” or “harm reducing” may influence the initiation of use with these products. Young adults, ages 18-22, generally underestimate the addictiveness of nicotine and this could make them particularly vulnerable to “reduced risk” nicotine delivery products. With recent increased smoking initiation rates in this population, college freshmen, in particular, may find “reduced risk” nicotine delivery products particularly attractive as starter products. This two-phase, mixed methods study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. The first phase is qualitative and explores the awareness and beliefs about nicotine by collecting focus group data from college freshmen in Baltimore, Maryland. Emergent themes from the qualitative data are then used to inform the development of a survey instrument to test the hypotheses comparing reported use of “reduced risk” nicotine delivery products with awareness and risk perceptions of these products. We will present data on awareness and beliefs about nicotine in college freshmen as well as data on awareness, risk perceptions, and reported use of “reduced risk” nicotine delivery products by gender, race/ethnicity, and smoking status.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: College Students, Tobacco Policy
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.