harm perceptions of e‐cigarettes and other nicotine products in a UK sample.

Introduction:
This summary will provide an overview of a research study examining harm perceptions of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products in a UK sample. The study aims to assess nicotine knowledge and perceptions of harm, addictiveness, and change in harm when smoking is replaced with e-cigarette use. It also explores perceived main harms of e-cigarettes and how they differ by vaping status.

Key points:

* The study used data from a longitudinal online survey of past-year smokers in the UK.
* Participants were asked about their nicotine knowledge and perceptions of harm and addictiveness of e-cigarettes, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), and tobacco cigarettes.
* The study found that large proportions of UK smokers and ex-smokers overestimate the relative harmfulness of e-cigarettes and NRT compared with smoking.
* Misattributing smoking harms to nicotine is associated with increased misperceptions.
* Perceiving e-cigarettes as less harmful predicted subsequent initiation of e-cigarette use, but accurate nicotine knowledge was not significantly associated with e-cigarette use.
* The main concerns about e-cigarettes were a lack of research, regulation or quality control, and harmfulness of chemicals.
* Participants who had never vaped were more likely to have misperceptions about the relative harm of e-cigarettes and NRT compared with tobacco cigarettes.
* Inaccurate nicotine knowledge was associated with increased relative harm misperceptions of e-cigarettes and NRT compared with tobacco cigarettes.

Main message:
The study highlights the prevalence of misperceptions about the relative harmfulness of e-cigarettes and NRT compared with smoking, which may affect their use. Misattributing smoking harms to nicotine is associated with increased misperceptions. accurate understanding of nicotine and its role in smoking-related harm is essential for informing decisions around smoking, e-cigarette use, and NRT. Public awareness campaigns should differentiate the role of smoke constituents other than nicotine in causing the main health harms from the role of nicotine in continuing the addiction yet not having the same main health harms. Further research is needed to understand how to reverse the shifts in harm perceptions and move towards more accurate understanding in the community.

Wilson S, Partos T, McNeill a, Brose LS. harm perceptions of e‐cigarettes and other nicotine products in a UK sample. addiction. 2019;114(5):879-888. doi:10.1111/add.14502