Unintended adverse effects of advertising for nicotine replacement therapies

自1997年以来，澳大利亚允许为帮助人们戒烟的某些药品（尼古丁替代疗法（NRT））做广告。Zyban是一种抗抑郁药物，已被发现有助于戒烟，但广告尚未在澳大利亚被允许，尽管它在海外是允许的。由于这类广告所触及的对象将不限于准备戒烟的重度吸烟者这一主要目标群体，因此必须考虑其他未准备戒烟的吸烟者和有可能重新吸烟的人的反应。人们担心，对这些人群可能会有“回飞棒”效应，尽管是无意的，因为他们可能会感到放心，有一种有效的戒烟方法，所以不急于很快戒烟，他们可能会在真正准备好之前尝试戒烟，在青少年的情况下，他们可能会认为这些产品很容易戒烟，所以开始吸烟的问题就少了。为了评估是否如此，我们将随机将尚未准备戒烟的吸烟者和青少年分配到（a）一组，他们观看3个宣传非药物戒烟方法的广告，如戒烟热线，（B）一组，他们观看3个宣传NRT口香糖或贴片的广告，或（c）一组，他们观看3个宣传Zyban作为戒烟方法的广告。该研究将使用问卷调查，以评估与观看非药物反吸烟广告的人相比，观看NRT或Zyban广告的人是否认为吸烟不太容易上瘾，也不太想戒烟，或者对于青少年来说，更想吸烟。该项目将是第一个正式的研究，以评估NRT和Zyban广告是否可能对尚未准备戒烟的吸烟者和尚未成为常规吸烟者的青少年产生不利影响。出于这个原因，这项研究将有助于评估这种广告的风险，并与准备戒烟的吸烟者的既定利益进行比较。

Advertising for certain pharmaceutical products (nicotine replacement therapy( NRT)) to help people quit smoking has been permitted in Australia since 1997. Zyban, an antidepressant drug, has been found to be helpful in quitting smoking, but advertising has not yet been permitted in Australia although it is allowed overseas. Because such advertising will reach more than the primary target group of heavy smokers ready to quit, it is important to consider the responses of other smokers who are not ready to quit and those at risk of taking up smoking. There is concern that there may be 'boomerang' effects, albeit unintended, on these population groups, because they may feel reassured that there is an effective method to quit and so be in no rush to quit soon, they may try to quit using these products before they are really ready, and in the case of teenagers, they may think that these products make it easy to quit, so there is less problem with starting to smoke. In order to assess if this is so, we will randomly allocate smokers not yet ready to quit and teenagers to either (a) a group where they view 3 ads promoting non-drug methods of quitting, such as the Quitline, (b) a group where they view 3 ads promoting the NRT gum or patch, or (c) a group where they view 3 ads promoting Zyban as a method for quitting. The study will use questionnaires to assess whether, compared with those viewing the non-drug anti-smoking ads, those viewing the NRT or Zyban ads think smoking is less addictive and have less intention to quit, or in the case of teenagers, have more intention to take up smoking. This project will be the first formal study to assess whether there may be adverse effects of NRT and Zyban advertising on smokers not yet ready to quit and teenagers who are not already regular smokers. For this reason, the study will help an assessment of the risks of such advertising compared with the established benefits for smokers who are ready to quit.