Study: The Link Between Changes in Harm Perceptions Vs E-Cig Use

A recent study published in BMC Med, looks at the relationship between risk perceptions and e-cig use amongst smokers in England.

Diane Caruana

September 1, 2020

Given the decreasing trend in the number of people who view vaping as safer than smoking, the study titled, “Association between changes in harm perceptions and e-cigarette use among current tobacco smokers in England: a time series analysis,” aimed to estimate whether these changes in harm perceptions among smokers, have been associated with changes in the prevalence of e-cigarette use in England.

For every 1% decrease in the belief that e-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes, the mean e-cigarette use decreased by 0.48%.

The researchers gathered their data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, which involves monthly cross-sectional household surveys of individuals aged 16+ years in England, selecting 300 current tobacco smokers between 2014 and 2019.

The compiled data did indeed indicate that between 2014 and 2019 monthly changes in the prevalence of accurate harm perceptions among current tobacco smokers in England, were strongly associated with changes in e-cigarette use.

“For every 1% decrease in the mean prevalence of current tobacco smokers who endorsed the belief that e-cigarettes are less harmful than combustible cigarettes, the mean prevalence of e-cigarette use decreased by 0.48% (βadj = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.25-0.71, p < .001).”

“Marginal age and sex differences were observed, whereby significant associations were observed in older (but not in young) adults and in men (but not in women). No differences by social grade were detected,” reported the researchers.