The research briefing is part of a series of monthly updates aiming to provide an overview of new studies on electronic cigarettes. The briefings are intended for researchers, policy makers, health professionals and others who may not have time to keep up to date with new findings and would like to access a summary that goes beyond the study abstract.
Nicotine delivery and users' reactions to Juul compared with cigarettes and other e-cigarette products
The study compared the nicotine delivery and user experience of Juul e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes in twenty dual users. After overnight abstinence, participants smoked their usual brand cigarette freely for 5 minutes. After a second overnight abstinence, participants vaped a 59mg/ml nicotine Juul e-cigarette.
The team found there was no difference in the peak amount of blood nicotine concentration measured, nor the time taken to reach maximum nicotine concentration. The users rated Juul as more pleasant and said they were more likely to recommend the product to friends.
The authors said: “Juul's PK profile and user ratings suggest that it could be more effective than other EC products in helping smokers to quit smoking, but it may also have a higher potential to generate regular use in non-smokers.”
UKECRF said the sample size being low increased the uncertainty of estimates, and was limited by the order of smoking/vaping and the single Juul flavour used.
Communicating the relative health risks of E-cigarettes: An online experimental study exploring the effects of a comparative health message versus the EU nicotine addiction warnings on smokers' and non-smokers' risk perceptions and behavioural intentions
The study investigated the effects of the European Union Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) Article 20 E-cigarette health warnings.
Around 2500 UK residents self-reported “perceived harm, addictiveness, ecig effectiveness, social acceptability, and intentions to purchase and use an ecig, and in smokers, intentions to quit and intentions to use ecigs in future quit attempts.” These were measured before and after exposure to vape images containing a variety of health warnings including no message at all. The authors concluded: “TPD messages may be effective smoking prevention tools.”
UKECRF said: “The study focuses on the intentions of participants. Therefore, it is unclear whether these intentions regarding e-cigarettes would be converted into actions. Participants were presented with the messages in a controlled situation rather than shown adverts in a real-life environment and the effect of the message in these scenarios may differ.”
Socioeconomic patterning of vaping by smoking status among UK adults and youth
This study examined inequalities in vaping by smoking status, hoping to offer insights into potential impacts of vaping on socioeconomic inequalities in health.
The authors used data from 3291 youth and 35,367 adults from wave 7 (2015-17) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study. They concluded: “Inequalities in vaping among never smoking youth and adult ex-smokers, suggest potential to widen health inequalities, while weaker inequalities in smoking cessation among adult vapers indicate e-cigarettes could help narrow inequalities.”
UKECRF said: “Vaping status was binary and was determined by asking ‘do you ever use electronic cigarettes’. Therefore, occasional users would have been categorised as users. Similarly, smoking status in the analysis on youth was also binary. As it is common for young people to try e-cigarettes or cigarettes without using them regularly, this may have impacted the associations seen.”
“The study did not examine trends in cessation, only ‘ex-smokers’. Therefore, Therefore, it cannot tell us about patterns of use in individuals over time, or determine causality.”
Related:
- UK Electronic Cigarette Research Forum – [link]
- “Nicotine delivery and users' reactions to Juul compared with cigarettes and other e-cigarette products” by Hajek et al. – [link]
- “Communicating the relative health risks of E-cigarettes” by Kimber, Frings, Cox et al. – [link]
- “Socioeconomic patterning of vaping by smoking status among UK adults and youth” by Green, Gray, Sweeting and Benzeval – [link]
Other studies released over the last month:
Patterns of Use
- Which smokers adopt e-cigarettes and at what price? An experimental estimation of price elasticity of demand and factors correlated with e-cigarette adoption.
- Socioeconomic patterning of vaping by smoking status among UK adults and youth.
- Use of Electronic Cigarettes in Smoke-Free Spaces by Smokers: Results from the 2014-2015 Population Assessment on Tobacco and Health Study.
- Comparison of the Relative Abuse Liability of Electronic Cigarette Aerosol Extracts and Nicotine Alone in Adolescent Rats: A Behavioral Economic Analysis.
- Factors Associated with Electronic Cigarette Use among Young Adults: The French "Trajectoires EpidéMiologiques en POpulation" (TEMPO) Cohort Study.
- Spirituality, Ethnic Identity, and Substance Use among American Indian/Alaska Native Adolescents in California.
- Nicotine delivery and users' reactions to Juul compared with cigarettes and other e-cigarette products.
- Changes in Flavor Preference in a Cohort of Long-term Electronic Cigarette Users.
- Associations of Socioeconomic Status, Parental Smoking and Parental E-Cigarette Use with 10-11-Year-Old Children's Perceptions of Tobacco Cigarettes and E-Cigarettes: Cross Sectional Analysis of the CHETS Wales 3 Survey.
- Association Between E-cigarette Use and Depression in US Adults.
- Flavor Preference and Systemic Immunoglobulin Responses in E-Cigarette Users and Waterpipe and Tobacco Smokers: A Pilot Study.
- Electronic Cigarette and JUUL Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults.
- E-Cigarette Use by Smoking Status in Estonia, 2012-2018.
- Tobacco and electronic cigarette cues for smoking and vaping: an online experimental study.
- Youth Vaping and Tobacco Use in Context in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
- Body esteem, weight control outcome expectancies, and e-cigarette use among young adults.
- Population-level predictors of changes in success rates of smoking quit attempts in England: a time series analysis.
Perception
- From the Deeming Rule to JUUL-US News Coverage of Electronic Cigarettes, 2015-2018.
- Using the intervention ladder to examine policy influencer and general public support for potential tobacco control policies in Alberta and Quebec.
- A multimodal assessment of tobacco use on a university campus and support for adopting a comprehensive tobacco-free policy.
- Support for Aggressive Tobacco Control Interventions Among California Adolescents and Young Adults.
- Harm perceptions of e-cigarettes among smokers with and without mental health conditions in England: A cross-sectional population survey.
- Flavor Preference and Systemic Immunoglobulin Responses in E-Cigarette Users and Waterpipe and Tobacco Smokers: A Pilot Study.
- Sex differences in the appeal of flavored e-cigarettes among young adult e-cigarette users.
- Perceptions and Sentiments About Electronic Cigarettes on Social Media Platforms: Systematic Review.
- Communicating the relative health risks of E-cigarettes: An online experimental study exploring the effects of a comparative health message versus the EU nicotine addiction warnings on smokers' and non-smokers' risk perceptions and behavioural intentions.
Cessation
- Nicotine patches with e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.
- Association between electronic cigarette use and smoking cessation in the European Union in 2017: analysis of a representative sample of 13 057 Europeans from 28 countries.
- Changes in Nicotine Product Use among Dual Users of Tobacco and Electronic Cigarettes: Findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, 2013-2015.
- Is the use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation associated with alcohol consumption? A population-level survey of successful quitters in England.
Youth
- High school students rarely use e-cigarettes alone: A socio-demographic analysis of poly-substance use among adolescents in the USA.
- Prevalence of Electronic Cigarette Use Among Adolescents in New Jersey and Association With Social Factors.
- Age-varying associations between e-cigarette use and peer use, household use, and exposure to e-cigarette commercials among alternative high school students in Southern California.
- Who Uses Tobacco Products? Using Peer Crowd Segmentation to Identify Youth at Risk for Cigarettes, Cigar Products, Hookah, and E-Cigarettes.
- Novel tobacco products including electronic cigarette and heated tobacco products increase risk of allergic rhinitis and asthma in adolescents: Analysis of Korean youth survey.
- Exposure to Secondhand Aerosol From Electronic Cigarettes Among US Youth From 2015 to 2018.
- Use of e-cigarettes and smoked tobacco in youth aged 14-15 years in New Zealand: findings from repeated cross-sectional studies (2014-19).
- Adolescents' interpretations of e-cigarette advertising and their engagement with e-cigarette information: results from five focus groups.
Harms and Harm Reduction
- Inflammatory Biomarkers and Growth Factors in Saliva and Gingival Crevicular Fluid of E-cigarette users, Cigarette smokers, and Dual smokers: A pilot study.
- The oral health impact of electronic cigarette use: a systematic review.
- E-cigarettes: Effects in phagocytosis and cytokines response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
- Electronic cigarettes and obstetric outcomes: a prospective observational study.
- Profiling the Acute Effects of Modified Risk Products: Evidence from the SUR-VAPES (Sapienza University of Rome-Vascular Assessment of Proatherosclerotic Effects of Smoking) Cluster Study.
- The Health Risks of Electronic Cigarettes Use in Adolescents.
- Effects of Exposure to Tobacco Cigarette, Electronic Cigarette and Heated Tobacco Product on Adipocyte Survival and Differentiation In Vitro.
- PBPK modeling characterization of potential acute impairment effects from inhalation of ethanol during e-cigarette use.
- The Evolving Landscape of Electronic Cigarettes: A systematic review of recent evidence.
- Novel tobacco products including electronic cigarette and heated tobacco products increase risk of allergic rhinitis and asthma in adolescents: Analysis of Korean youth survey.
- The effects of vaping electronic cigarettes on periodontitis.
- Nicotine exposure potentiates lung tumorigenesis by perturbing cellular surveillance.
- Hypomethylation of LINE-1 repeat elements and global loss of DNA hydroxymethylation in vapers and smokers.
- Comparison of self-rated oral symptoms and periodontal status among cigarette smokers and individuals using electronic nicotine delivery systems.
- Is E-cigarette use a gateway to marijuana use? Longitudinal examinations of initiation, reinitiation, and persistence of e-cigarette and marijuana use.
- Negative health symptoms reported by youth e-cigarette users: Results from a national survey of US youth.
- A 6-month systems toxicology inhalation study in ApoE-/- mice demonstrates reduced cardiovascular effects of E-vapor aerosols compared to cigarette smoke.
- Adult Social Environments and the Use of Combustible and Electronic Cigarettes: Opportunities for Reducing Smoking in the 30s.
- Vaping effects on asthma: results from a web survey and clinical investigation.
- Determination of Thermal Decomposition Products Generated from E-Cigarettes.
- Electronic Cigarette (E-Cigarette) Vapor Exposure Alters the Streptococcus pneumoniae Transcriptome in a Nicotine-Dependent Manner without Affecting Pneumococcal Virulence.
- Assessing the hazard of E-Cigarette flavor mixtures using zebrafish.
- Systemic toxicity evaluation of novel tobacco products in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Marketing
- Availability and advertising of electronic cigarettes in two Russian cities following implementation of comprehensive tobacco advertising restrictions.
- Cartoon images on e-juice labels: A descriptive analysis.
- Do tobacco industry websites target content to specific demographic groups?
- Peer crowd-based targeting in E-cigarette advertisements: a qualitative study to inform counter-marketing.
Misc
- Acute effects of JUUL and IQOS in cigarette smokers.
- Comprehensive overview of common e-liquid ingredients and how they can be used to predict an e-liquid's flavour category.
- Online Information on Electronic Cigarettes: Comparative Study of Relevant Websites From Baidu and Google Search Engines.
- Determining the impact of flavored e-liquids on aldehyde production during Vaping.
- How do colleges communicate about E-cigarettes? The presentation of risk, policy, and cessation resources on college websites.
- Behavior-based yield for electronic cigarette users of different strength eliquids based on natural environment topography.
- Impact of the revised European Tobacco Product Directive on the quality of e-cigarette refill liquids in Belgium.
- Examination of a mouthpiece-based topography device for assessing relative reinforcing effects of e-cigarettes: A preliminary study.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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