Association between Intention to Quit Cigarette Smoking and Use of Heated Tobacco Products: Application of Smoking Intensity Perspective on Heated Tobacco Product Users.

Dong-Hee Ryu,Jun Hyun Hwang,Soon-Woo Park

doi:10.3390/ijerph17228471

Abstract

Tobacco companies have designed sophisticated marketing strategies for heated tobacco products (HTPs), and many smokers are exposed to advertisements purporting that HTPs can replace combustible cigarettes. The present study evaluates the relationship between poly-use of tobacco products and intention to quit cigarette smoking in association with smoking intensity, a meaningful indication of one’s interest in quitting cigarette smoking. A total of 36,397 current cigarette smokers who participated in the 2019 Korea Community Health Survey were evaluated. A multivariable logistic regression model was designed. Additionally, smoking-intensity-stratified analyses were conducted. A total of 4.7% of the participants reported planning to quit cigarette smoking within one month. Current dual users of combustible cigarettes and HTPs presented no significantly increased likelihood of intention to quit cigarette smoking regardless of cigarette-smoking intensity. By contrast, light and heavy daily smokers who accompanied e-cigarette use presented significant adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of 1.81 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04–3.14) and 1.97 (95% CI: 1.14–3.42), respectively. Occasional and daily smokers who reported using both HTPs and e-cigarettes presented no significance. The results of the present study suggested that a complete replacement of combustible cigarettes with HTPs was unlikely.

Highlights

The World Health Organization stated that “global targets for reducing tobacco will not be reached unless current tobacco users quit”, emphasizing that quitting tobacco has major and immediate health benefits [1]
In terms of type of smoking, the weighted percentage of intention to quit was lowest among dual users of combustible cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) (4.3%)
An indirectly proportional relationship was detected between cigarette-smoking intensity and intention to quit

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization stated that “global targets for reducing tobacco will not be reached unless current tobacco users quit”, emphasizing that quitting tobacco has major and immediate health benefits [1]. According to PRIME (i.e., plans, responses, impulses, motives, evaluations) theory, intention to quit smoking in the near future (plan) is a motivation that positively influences the adoption of cessation behaviors [3]. Recent enthusiasm for new types of tobacco products has made it more complicated to interpret smokers’ intention to quit cigarette smoking. Of the new types of tobacco products, heated tobacco products (HTPs) and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are among the most common [6]. HTPs, known as “heat-not-burn”, are non-combustible devices that generate a nicotine-containing aerosol by heating processed tobacco [7]. E-cigarettes are products that heat a nicotine-containing solution mainly comprising propylene glycol or glycerol [8]. The key elements of marketing strategies adopted by the leading companies in the tobacco industry when launching these products can be summarized as “harm

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion