Research digest December 2020

This page provides a non-exhaustive list of tobacco-related research articles identified weekly from PubMed by the ASH Scotland Information Service. 

Search period: 28/11 - 26/12

Research Trawl  28^th November - 4^th December

Tobacco 21 adoption decreased sales of cigarette brands purchased by young people: a translation of population health survey data to gain insight into market data for policy analysis

Published: 03/12/2020, Tobacco Control

Introduction Policies raising the minimum age of sale of tobacco products to 21 (T21) proliferated at state and local levels across the USA before a federal policy was adopted. Evidence of the effectiveness of these policies is building and lags implementation. This study exploits demographic patterns of cigarette brand purchasing to evaluate the effectiveness of T21.

Is the tobacco ‘footfall’ argument justified for tobacco purchases in New Zealand convenience stores?

Published: 03/12/2020, Tobacco Control

Conclusions Our results do not support claims that tobacco drives one-quarter of footfall into stores or that customers who purchase tobacco spend almost twice as much as non-tobacco customers. Combined purchases of tobacco and non-tobacco items constituted 5.5% of transactions; the impact on a store’s profitability of removing tobacco sales is unknown and could be the focus of future research. Conclusion This study adds compelling empirical evidence that T21 decreased purchases of the cigarette brands consumed disproportionately by young people, the policy’s target demographic

Tobacco withdrawal symptoms before and after nicotine deprivation in veteran smokers with posttraumatic stress disorder and with major depressive disorder

Published: 27/11/2020, Nicotine and Tobacco Control

Conclusions These findings suggest that chronically high levels of distress and craving, rather than acute increases in withdrawal symptoms due to nicotine deprivation, may account for the quitting difficulties of those with comorbid conditions such as PTSD and MDD.

Do Young Adults Attend to Health Warnings in the First IQOS Advertisement in the U.S.? An Eye-Tracking Approach

Published: 27/11/2020, Nicotine and  Tobacco Control

Conclusions The results revealed the effects of IQOS promotional content overshadowed the two health warnings in influencing young people’s attitude and intention to use IQOS. Young adults who vaped were more vulnerable to HTP advertising with respect to future use and vaping may be a gateway to HTP use.

Behavioral Economic Demand for Alcohol and Cigarettes in Heavy Drinking Smokers: Evidence of Asymmetric Cross-commodity Reinforcing Value

Published: 28/11/2020, Nicotine and Tobacco Research

Conclusions These results advance our understanding of the overlap between cigarette and alcohol by demonstrating that involvement with one substance was associated with demand for the other substance. This asymmetric profile—from smoking to alcohol demand, but not vice versa—suggests that it is not simply tapping into a generally higher reward sensitivity and warrants further investigation.

Switching to Progressively Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes in Smokers with Low Socioeconomic Status: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Published: 29/11/2020, Nicotine and Tobacco Research

Conclusions This study supports a very low nicotine cigarette (VLNC) standard in cigarettes.

The impact of including cessation resource information on health warnings on standardised tobacco packaging on awareness and use: A longitudinal online survey in the United Kingdom

Published: 30/11/2020, Nicotine and Tobacco Research

Results Among smokers recalling seeing information about a stop-smoking website, citing warnings as a source increased between waves (W1=14.0%, W2=24.2%, W3=25.1%) and was associated with having visited a stop-smoking website (OR=11.81, 95% CI 8.47-16.46). Citing warnings as a source of a stop-smoking website increased among exclusive RYO smokers at each wave (W1=15.5%, W2=26.3%, W3=32.1%), while for exclusive cigarette smokers it only increased at W2 (W1=10.5%, W2=22.4%, W3=19.9%).

Identifying the best questions for rapid screening of secondhand smoke exposure among children

Published: 29/11/2020, Nicotine and Tobacco Control

Results Answering positively to at least one of the two final items (“During the past 30 days, did you smoke cigarettes at all?” and “Has anyone, including yourself, smoked tobacco in your home in the past 7 days?”) showed AUC = .82, and good specificity (.88) and sensitivity (.74). These results were validated with similar items in the nationally-representative NHANES sample, AUC = .82, specificity = .78, and sensitivity = .77.

Association of e-cigarette advertising with e-cigarette and cigarette use among US adults

Published: 03/12/2020, Addiction

Conclusions: Exposure to e-cigarette advertising appears to be positively associated with the use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes among adults of all ages, and with increased cigarette consumption among older adults.

Maternal Smoking in Pregnancy and Child's Hospital Use up to 5 Years of Age in a Data Linkage Birth Cohort

Published: 02/12/2020, Hospital Paediatrics

Results: Among 36 630 infants, 21% were exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy. Exposed children had a 26% higher rate of presentation to the emergency department (IRRadjusted 1.26; 95% CI 1.23-1.29) and a 45% higher rate of admission (IRRadjusted 1.45; 95% CI 1.39-1.51) at up to 5 years of age. Compared with the negative control, higher presentation and admission rates were evident in respiratory; eyes, ears, nose, and throat; psychosocial; and infectious disease categories.

Depression, smoking, and lung cancer risk over 24 years among women

Published: 03/12/2020, Psychological Medicine

Results: We identified 1009 cases of lung cancer. Women with the highest v. lowest level of depressive symptoms had an increased lung cancer risk (HRsociodemographics-adjusted = 1.62, 95% CI 1.34-1.95; HRfully-adjusted = 1.25, 95% CI 1.04-1.51). In a test of mediation, lifetime pack-years of smoking accounted for 38% of the overall association between depressive symptoms and disease risk.

Underage Youth and Young Adult e-Cigarette Use and Access Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Published: 03/12/2020, JAMA Network Open

Findings  In this national [US], online, cross-sectional survey study of 2167 youth and young adults using e-cigarettes, 1198 respondents reported changing their amount of e-cigarette use, with 810 reducing or quitting e-cigarette use; e-cigarette access shifted to alternative retail stores and online. Reduced e-cigarette use or quitting was associated with adhering to shelter-in-place guidelines and was less likely if participants had used e-cigarettes more than 10 times or were nicotine dependent.