Are smokers adequately informed about the health risks of smoking and medicinal nicotine?
This paper is of interest although it is quite old (2004). Two things stand out for me:
1. "77% of respondents reported a desire for additional information from tobacco companies on the health dangers of smoking". They desire information from tobacco companies?
2. If I/we had access to the full text, then we might be able to understand better the rationale for this and other statements in the abstract. But this paper is inaccessible, behind a pay-wall. The same is true of much (most?) of the research literature on Tobacco. The leading BMJ journal Tobacco Control has some papers that are freely available, but many/most are not. I would be interested to hear from HIFA members: To what extent is this lack of access to research on tobacco a barrier to tobacco control? What if everyone had access to all research and expert commentary on Tobacco?
CITATION: Nicotine Tob Res
2004 Dec;6 Suppl 3:S333-40. doi: 10.1080/14622200412331320734.
Are smokers adequately informed about the health risks of smoking and medicinal nicotine?
K Michael Cummings 1, Andrew Hyland, Gary A Giovino, Janice L Hastrup, Joseph E Bauer, Maansi A Bansal
PMID: 15799596 DOI: 10.1080/14622200412331320734
ABSTRACT
The present study assessed smokers' beliefs about the health risks of smoking and the benefits of smoking filtered and low-tar cigarettes, and their awareness of and interest in trying so-called reduced-risk tobacco products. Results were based on a nationally representative random-digit-dialed telephone survey of 1,046 adult (aged 18 years or older) current cigarette smokers. Data were gathered on demographic characteristics, tobacco use behaviors, awareness and use of nicotine medications, beliefs about the health risks of smoking, content of smoke and design features of cigarettes, and the safety and efficacy of nicotine medications. In addition, respondents were asked about their interest in and perceived ability to stop smoking and about their desire for more information about the health risks of smoking. Smokers were least knowledgeable about low-tar and filter cigarettes (65% of responses were incorrect or "don't know") and most knowledgeable about the health risks of smoking (39% of responses were incorrect or "don't know"). The smokers' characteristics most commonly associated with misinformation when all six indices were combined into a summary index were as follows: those aged 45 years or older, smokers of ultralight cigarettes, smokers who believe they will stop smoking before they experience a serious health problem caused by smoking, smokers who have never used a stop-smoking medication, and smokers with a lower education level. Those who believed they would stop smoking in the next year were more knowledgeable about smoking. Some 77% of respondents reported a desire for additional information from tobacco companies on the health dangers of smoking. The present findings demonstrate that smokers are misinformed about many aspects of the cigarettes they smoke and stop-smoking medications and that they want more information about ways to reduce their health risks.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
