RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Misperceptions of harm among Natural American Spirit smokers: results from wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study (2013–2014)
JF Tobacco Control
JO Tob Control
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e61
OP e67
DO 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053265
VO 26
IS e1
A1 Jennifer L Pearson
A1 Amanda Johnson
A1 Andrea Villanti
A1 Allison M Glasser
A1 Lauren Collins
A1 Amy Cohn
A1 Shyanika W Rose
A1 Raymond Niaura
A1 Cassandra A Stanton
YR 2017
UL http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/26/e1/e61.abstract
AB Introduction This study estimated differences in cigarette harm perceptions among smokers of the Natural American Spirit (NAS) brand—marketed as ‘natural’, ‘organic’ and ‘additive-free’—compared to other smokers, and examined correlates of NAS use.Methods Data were drawn from wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, a nationally representative study of US adults (2013–2014). Weighted analyses using a subset of current adult smokers (n=10 565) estimated the prevalence of NAS use (vs all other brands) and examined associations between NAS use and sociodemographics, tobacco/substance use, tobacco harm perceptions, quit intentions, quit attempts and mental/behavioural health.Results Overall, 2.3% of adult smokers (920 000 people in the USA) reported NAS as their usual brand. Nearly 64% of NAS smokers inaccurately believed that their brand is less harmful than other brands compared to 8.3% of smokers of other brands, after controlling for potential confounders (aOR 22.82). Younger age (18–34 vs 35+; aOR 1.54), frequent thinking about tobacco harms (aOR 1.84), past 30-day alcohol use (aOR 1.57), past 30-day marijuana use (aOR 1.87) and sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, bisexual, ‘other’ or ‘questioning’ vs heterosexual; aOR 2.07) were also associated with increased odds of smoking NAS.Conclusions The majority of NAS smokers inaccurately believes that their cigarettes are less harmful than other brands. Given the brand's rapid growth and its more common use in vulnerable groups (eg, young adults, lesbian, gay, bisexual, ‘other’ or ‘questioning’ adults), corrective messaging and enforcement action are necessary to correct harm misperceptions of NAS cigarettes.