associations Between Nicotine Knowledge and Smoking Cessation Behaviors among US adults Who Smoke.

Introduction:
This article provides an analysis of the relationship between nicotine knowledge and tobacco use behaviors among smokers using data from the Population assessment of Tobacco and health (PaTh) study. The study aims to estimate the current state of knowledge about nicotine's addictive potential and contribution to health harm among a large sample of smokers, investigate whether misperceptions about nicotine's role in health harms are positively or negatively associated with variation in behaviors such as cigarette consumption, quit attempts, self-reported cessation, and use of lower harm products (e-cigarettes) at future waves, and investigate whether misperceiving nicotine as harmful to health is associated with lower probability of using a range of cessation supports such as NRT, e-cigarettes, or counseling during recent quit attempts.

Key Points:

* The study uses data from the PaTh study, a longitudinal cohort study consisting of approximately 45,000 youth and adults.
* Nicotine knowledge is assessed based on responses to six statements about nicotine, four of which concern its potential health effects and two of which focus on its addictive potential.
* Tobacco use behaviors, including cigarette consumption, quit attempts, self-reported cessation, and use of e-cigarettes are also measured.
* The study finds that participants who misperceive nicotine as harmful to health are more likely to make a quit attempt but less likely to successfully quit, less likely to use e-cigarettes, and less likely to use NRT or e-cigarettes to support quit attempts.
* Sociodemographic characteristics, such as being non-White, older, and having lower educational attainment or income, are associated with lower nicotine knowledge.
* Misperceptions about nicotine's contribution to cancer are associated with increased odds of missing responses to questions about quit attempts and successful cessation.
* The study controls for a wide range of known factors influencing tobacco use behaviors, including sex, age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, annual household income, past 12-month visit to a healthcare practitioner, and wave.

Main Message:
The study suggests that misperceptions about nicotine's role in health harms may negatively impact relative risk knowledge and could impede harm reduction efforts for adults who smoke. The findings highlight the importance of correcting nicotine misperceptions through public education, particularly among populations with lower nicotine knowledge, to encourage smokers to use evidence-based cessation support and limit the success of policies designed to shift smokers to less harmful sources of nicotine. Further work is needed to evaluate the longitudinal effects of correcting nicotine misperceptions through public education targeted toward adults who smoke.

Snell LM, Colby SM, Deatley T, Cassidy R, Tidey JW. associations Between Nicotine Knowledge and Smoking Cessation Behaviors among US adults Who Smoke. Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. 2022;24(6):855-863. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntab246