Communicating about Nicotine and Differential Risks of Tobacco Products

摘要 美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）的潜在突破性计划，以减少烟草相关的 通过将燃烧的香烟中的尼古丁降低到最低成瘾水平， 挑战烟草业及其盟友认为，这将导致黑市飙升， 公众和政治上的反弹。一些人警告说，吸烟者会认为减少尼古丁的香烟 有害的，这将阻止戒烟，类似于如何“轻”和“温和”的描述造成许多健康意识 吸烟者继续吸烟。为了最大限度地发挥这一可能挽救生命的政策的效益，有必要 制定有效的方法，宣传各种烟草产品中的尼古丁和健康风险 使用尼古丁含量不同的产品，如燃烧的香烟和电子尼古丁 递送系统（ENDS）。一种有希望的通信策略是将关于减少的信息联合收割机组合在一起， 燃烧的香烟中的尼古丁与关于其它尼古丁递送产品的低风险的信息（即， “修改的风险索赔”）。我们的中心假设是，这两种类型的信息组合在一起， 比单独使用任何一种都有积极的影响。这可能是由于修改后的风险信息能够缓解 消极的情绪反应和对减少尼古丁信息的抗拒。然而这种沟通策略 几乎没有被探索过研究是迫切需要检查这两种类型的信息，因为他们 介绍FDA关于尼古丁和烟草监管的新综合计划的两个方面。该项目将 通过追求这些具体目标提供研究：（1）制定关于减少的初步信息 使用定性焦点组对燃烧的烟草制品中的尼古丁进行定量;（2）量化以下方面的相对重要性： 使用离散选择实验在关于减少尼古丁的通信中的不同类型的信息;（3） 测试在修改后的烟草产品中减少尼古丁的信息的影响， 在一项具有全国代表性样本的随机临床试验中对新型烟草制品的风险陈述 成年人目前唯一吸烟者、双重使用者和年轻成年人（18-29岁）非吸烟者。This project will use 从通信和决策科学的见解，以产生数据，这将有助于科学， 告知FDA有关产品审查、产品标准和尼古丁公众教育的监管行动 以及烟草产品的不同风险。

ABSTRACT The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) potentially groundbreaking plan to reduce tobacco-related death and disease by lowering nicotine in combusted cigarettes to minimally addictive levels has many challenges. The tobacco industry and its allies argue that it would lead to a skyrocketing black market and public and political backlash. Some caution that smokers would view reduced nicotine cigarettes as less harmful, which would deter quitting, similar to how “light” and “mild” descriptors caused many health-conscious smokers to continue smoking. To maximize the benefits of this potentially life-saving policy, it is necessary to develop effective ways to communicate about nicotine in various tobacco products and about the health risks of using products that have different levels of nicotine, such as combusted cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). One promising communication strategy is to combine messages about reduced nicotine in combusted cigarettes with messages about lower risks of other nicotine-delivering products (i.e., “modified risk claims”). Our central hypothesis is that the two types of messages in combination have greater positive impact than either type alone. This might be due to modified risk messages being able to mitigate negative emotional reactions and reactance to reduced nicotine messages. Yet this communication strategy remains virtually unexplored. Research is sorely needed to examine these two types of messages as they present both sides of the FDA’s new comprehensive plan for nicotine and tobacco regulation. This project will provide that research by pursuing these specific aims: (1) Develop preliminary messages about reduced nicotine in combusted tobacco products using qualitative focus groups; (2) Quantify the relative importance of different types of information in communications about reduced nicotine using Discrete Choice Experiment; (3) Test the impact of messages about reduced nicotine in combusted tobacco products in the context of modified risk statements for novel tobacco products in a randomized clinical trial with a nationally representative sample of adult current exclusive smokers, dual users, and young adult (18-29) non-smokers. This project will use insights from communication and decision sciences to produce data that will contribute to the science that informs FDA regulatory actions around product review, product standards, and public education on nicotine and the differential risks of tobacco products.