Use of infection control measures in people with chronic lung disease: mixed methods study.

Background: The introduction of community infection control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a reduction in acute exacerbations of lung disease. We aimed to understand the acceptability of continued use of infection control measures among people with chronic lung disease and to understand the barriers and facilitators of use.

Methods: Australian adults with chronic lung disease were invited to an online survey (last quarter of 2021) to specify infection control measures they would continue themselves post-pandemic and those they perceived should be adopted by the community.

Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences and self-management approaches adopted by people with interstitial lung disease.

Background: People with interstitial lung disease (ILD) were deemed more vulnerable to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and isolated as a means of reducing risk of infection. This study examined the impact of the pandemic on daily life, psychological wellbeing and access to healthcare and identified approaches undertaken to remain safe.

Methods: Four specialist clinics in tertiary centres in Australia (Victoria: two sites; New South Wales: one site; Western Australia: one site) recruited patients with ILD during an 8-week period from March 2021.

Associations between smokers' knowledge of causes of smoking harm and related beliefs and behaviors: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.

Background: Most smokers know that smoking is harmful to health, but less is known about their understanding of what causes the harms. The primary aim was to examine smokers' perceptions of the relative contributions to smoking-related morbidity from combustion products, nicotine, other substances present in unburned tobacco, and additives. A secondary aim was to evaluate the association of these perceptions with nicotine vaping product use intentions, and quitting motivation/intentions.

Safe at home: prevention of pediatric unintentional injuries.

Background: Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children in the United States. Studies have shown that parent adherence to safety guidelines is improved when education is provided in conjunction with safety equipment.

Methods: This study surveyed parents about specific injury prevention behaviors regarding medication and firearm storage and provided education and safety equipment for safe practice of these behaviors.

Smokers' awareness of filter ventilation, and how they believe it affects them: findings from the ITC Four Country Survey.

Background: Filter ventilation creates sensations of 'lightness' or 'smoothness' and is also highly effective for controlling machine-tested yields of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. Nearly all factory-made cigarettes (FMC) now have filter ventilation in countries such as Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. Research conducted before 'light' and 'mild' labelling was banned found low smoker awareness of filter ventilation and its effects.

Characterisation of vaping liquids used in vaping devices across four countries: results from an analysis of selected vaping liquids reported by users in the 2016 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.

Objectives: This study presents an analysis of vaping products (VPs) purchased in the USA, Canada, England and Australia and assesses whether differences in regulations were associated with differences in the chemical composition of the VPs.

Methods: April-September 2017, a total of 234 VP refill liquids and prefilled cartridges were purchased in convenience samples of retail locations in each country. Products were chosen from brands and styles most commonly reported by current VP users in the 2016 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.

'It's all the other stuff!' How smokers understand (and misunderstand) chemicals in cigarettes and cigarette smoke.

Many people understand chemicals as entities that do not occur naturally, and which are also invariably toxic. Tobacco control messages liberally use the term 'chemicals' to evoke these meanings and create concern among smokers. This may reinforce misunderstandings, potentially leading to smokers making harmful choices.

Understandings of the component causes of harm from cigarette smoking in Australia.

Introduction And Aims: To investigate relationships between smoking-related behaviours and knowledge of the disease risks of smoking and the causes of smoking harms, using a four-way division of 'component causes': nicotine, other substances found in unburned tobacco, combustion products of tobacco and additives.

Design And Methods: The data were collected using an on-line survey in Australia with 1047 participants in three groups; young non-smokers (18 to 25), young smokers (18 to 25) and older smokers (26 and above).

Results: Most participants agreed that cancer and heart disease are major risks of smoking but only a quarter accurately quantified the mortality risk of lifetime daily smoking.

Smokers' risk perceptions and misperceptions of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapies.

Introduction And Aims: To identify the range and coherence of smokers and recent ex-smokers' general beliefs about the harms associated with smoking and the implications of these beliefs for their assessments of the relative harms and addictiveness of various nicotine containing products.

Design And Methods: The study consisted of 18 single participant interviews with current smokers or vapers (13 M, 5 F) and three focus groups (15 M, 14 F) with current smokers/vapers and recent quitters. Both individual interviews and focus groups included semi-structured discussions of how nicotine and cigarette smoke cause disease and addiction, and a structured task involving rating the relative harmfulness and addictiveness of 17 nicotine products against a reference, popular, cigarette.

Clinical Outcomes of Transplanted Modified Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Stroke: A Phase 1/2a Study.

Background And Purpose: Preclinical data suggest that cell-based therapies have the potential to improve stroke outcomes.

Methods: Eighteen patients with stable, chronic stroke were enrolled in a 2-year, open-label, single-arm study to evaluate the safety and clinical outcomes of surgical transplantation of modified bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (SB623).

Results: All patients in the safety population (N=18) experienced at least 1 treatment-emergent adverse event.

Relationship of cigarette-related perceptions to cigarette design features: findings from the 2009 ITC U.S. Survey.

Introduction: Many governments around the world have banned the use of misleading cigarette descriptors such as "light" and "mild" because the cigarettes so labeled were found not to reduce smokers' health risks. However, underlying cigarette design features, which are retained in many brands, likely contribute to ongoing belief that these cigarettes are less harmful by producing perceptions of lightness/smoothness through lighter taste and reduced harshness and irritation.

Methods: Participants (N = 320) were recruited from the International Tobacco Control U.

Effects of a Fact Sheet on beliefs about the harmfulness of alternative nicotine delivery systems compared with cigarettes.

Background: This study explored the value of providing information in a Fact Sheet to correct misperceptions about the relative harmfulness of nicotine replacement products (NRT) and smokeless tobacco (ST), when compared to cigarette smoking.

Methods: Four convenience samples from different countries (Australia, UK, Sweden and USA) were surveyed concerning their beliefs about the relative harmfulness of smokeless tobacco and NRT. Study participants were given the Fact Sheet that explained that nicotine, as used by consumers, is not particularly harmful and explained why.

The decline of menthol cigarette smoking in Australia, 1980-2008.

Introduction: Concerns have been expressed that menthol cigarettes are highly conducive to uptake and hence function as "starter cigarettes" for adolescents. There is strong evidence for this in the United States. If menthol cigarettes are critical to uptake for some adolescents, they might be expected to remain popular among adolescents independent of promotional activity.

The acceptability of nicotine containing products as alternatives to cigarettes: findings from two pilot studies.

Background: This study aimed to explore issues that might impact on the acceptability and feasibility of offering smokers nicotine containing products either to quit nicotine use altogether by using as a short term means of quitting cigarettes or as a longer term substitute.

Method: Two small pilot studies, one in the UK (n = 34) involving face to face contact and direct provision of the product, the other in Australia (n = 31) conducted remotely with products sent in the mail.

Results: Nicotine lozenges were the most popular products, but significant minorities liked a smokeless product more.

Assessing the knowledge of all-terrain vehicle safety for children among Alabama pediatricians.

Background: Since 1987, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has had a policy regarding the use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) by children, which calls for pediatricians to educate families regarding the dangers of ATV use and to give recommendations for safety. Given the high incidence of ATV-related injuries in Alabama, our objective was to determine if pediatricians in our state are educating patients on ATV hazards and safety.

Methods: All general pediatricians in Alabama who are members of the AAP were asked to complete a survey distributed through e-mail using Survey Monkey® (Survey Monkey Palo Alto, Calif).

Impact of the removal of misleading terms on cigarette pack on smokers' beliefs about 'light/mild' cigarettes: cross-country comparisons.

Aim: This paper examines how smokers' beliefs about 'light/mild' cigarettes in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom were affected by the removal of misleading 'light/mild' terms from packs.

Design, Setting And Participants:   The data come from the first seven waves (2002-09) of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Four-Country Survey, an annual cohort telephone survey of adult smokers in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (21 613 individual cases). 'Light' and 'mild' descriptors were removed in 2003 in the United Kingdom, in 2006 in Australia and in 2007 in Canada.

Divergence between strength indicators in packaging and cigarette engineering: a case study of Marlboro varieties in Australia and the USA.

Objectives: To investigate how the tobacco industry is adapting to regulatory action in accordance with provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that targets misleading packaging and labelling. To relate the packaging and labelling of new cigarette varieties to their construction and performance.

Methods: The principal design features and tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide yields of the Marlboro 'brand family' in Australia were measured and compared with those of the US equivalents.

Effect of differing levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines in cigarette smoke on the levels of biomarkers in smokers.

Background: Smokers are exposed to significant doses of carcinogens, including tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA). Previous studies have shown significant global differences in the levels of TSNAs in cigarette smoke because of the variation in tobacco blending and curing practices around the world.

Methods: Mouth-level exposure to 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) measured in cigarette butts and urinary concentrations of its major metabolite 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) were examined among 126 daily smokers in four countries over a 24-hour study period.

ITC "spit and butts" pilot study: the feasibility of collecting saliva and cigarette butt samples from smokers to evaluate policy.

Introduction: Large-scale epidemiological surveys have frequently relied upon clinic-based sample collection to incorporate biological data, which can be costly and result in nonrepresentative data. Collecting samples in a nonclinical setting (i.e.

The reliability and validity of self-reported puffing behavior: evidence from a cross-national study.

Self-reported puffing behavior has considerable potential as an indicator of smoking intensity, particularly in survey research evaluating population-based changes in smoking patterns. However, little is known about the reliability and validity of self-reported puffing behavior. This study compared smokers' perceptions of their puffing behavior with measures of both machine-determined puffing behavior and nicotine uptake to assess the utility of self-report.

Smokers' beliefs about the relative safety of other tobacco products: findings from the ITC collaboration.

Most tobacco control efforts in western countries focus on the factory-made, mass-produced (FM) cigarette, whereas other tobacco products receive relatively little attention. Noncombusted tobacco products (i.e.

Mainstream smoke emissions of Australian and Canadian cigarettes.

We investigated how mainstream smoke emissions vary and interrelate in 15 Australian and 21 Canadian brands, using public emissions disclosures from 2001. These disclosures provided emission data for 40 hazardous agents under both standard and intensive ISO testing conditions. Our analyses focused on "adjusted emissions" (i.

Use of and beliefs about light cigarettes in four countries: findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey.

This study examined reported use of, and beliefs about, so-called light cigarettes among adult smokers in four countries: Australia (Aus), Canada (Can), the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.