Do Smokers' Perceptions of the Harmfulness of Nicotine Replacement Therapy and Nicotine Vaping Products as Compared to Cigarettes Influence Their Use as an Aid for Smoking Cessation? Findings from the ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys.
Hua-Hie YongShannon GravelyRon BorlandCoral E GartnerK Michael CummingsKatherine A EastScott TagliaferriTara Elton-MarshallAndrew HylandMaansi Bansal-TraversGeoffrey T FongPublished in: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (2022)
Nicotine replacement therapy and nicotine vaping products are two commonly used smoking cessation aids. This study demonstrates that misperceptions of the harms of nicotine products relative to cigarettes influence their use for smoking cessation. Believing that nicotine vaping products are much less harmful than cigarette smoking may lead some smokers to prefer these products over nicotine replacement therapy to aid smoking cessation. Education targeting misperceptions of nicotine products' harmfulness relative to cigarettes may enable smokers to make informed choices about which are appropriate to aid smoking cessation.