Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jennifer M. Kreslake, MPH, Geoffrey Ferris Wayne, MA, Carrie M. Carpenter, MS, and Gregory N. Connolly, DMD, MPH. Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Landmark Center, 3rd Floor East, Boston, MA 02115, 617-384-8532, jkreslak@hsph.harvard.edu

The use of menthol as a cigarette additive is acknowledged and actively promoted by the tobacco industry. Mentholated cigarettes currently comprise over 25% of the cigarette market in the United States. To smokers, a mentholated cigarette is differentiated from a non-mentholated cigarette primarily by its sensory attributes. The relationship between sensory perception and smoking behavior has received increased attention from researchers and is particularly relevant in the study of menthol cigarettes, as factors such as smoke flavor, harshness, impact, and respiratory effects may influence smokers' attitudes and preferences surrounding mentholated cigarettes. In this study, we analyze internal tobacco industry documents to examine differences in behavioral and social characteristics of menthol smokers compared to non-menthol smokers, and identify how smoker perceptions of menthol sensory characteristics relate to menthol smoking topography and frequency. These results, obtained from decades of tobacco industry research on menthol smokers, will provide public health officials and practitioners with guidance in tailoring prevention and cessation interventions to populations that are more likely to use menthol cigarettes and that may not be adequately addressed by current approaches.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify differences in behavioral and social characteristics of menthol smokers compared to non-menthol smokers.
• Describe the relationship between smoker perceptions of menthol sensory characteristics and menthol smoking topography and frequency.
• Identify opportunities for tailoring prevention and cessation interventions to populations that are likely to use menthol cigarettes.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered