Joint smoking-vaping prevalence rates among American youth and young adults 2011-2022.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) annually tracks American youth and adult smoking prevalence using data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) and the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The NYTS and the NHIS began collecting information on vaping in 2011 and 2014 respectively. However, since those years the CDC has only reported smoking and vaping rates separately, which presents a long-term and important information gap, given the decade-long debate about whether e-cigarettes help people who smoke reduce or quit, and whether they are a gateway to youth smoking.

Questionable Effects of Electronic Cigarette Use on Cardiovascular Diseases From the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, 2014-2021).

Background: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and cardiovascular health risks have gained attention among tobacco researchers. While the cardiovascular risks from e-cigarettes are still unclear, a recent paper by Alzahrani in Cureus claimed that current usage of e-cigarettes increases the risks of cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, in subjects who were never cigarette smokers.

Methods: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2014 to 2021 and logistic regression models were used to replicate and extend Alzahrani's analysis.

Why can't smokers quit? Longitudinal study of smokers in the US using the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) waves 1 to 5.

Introduction: Most adult cigarette smokers have tried unsuccessfully to quit. We followed participants in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study through five waves (2013-2019), comparing smoking, quit behaviors and other characteristics between persistent smokers and those who became and stayed former smokers.

Methods: The main analysis employed treatment effects to estimate mean differences in smoking and quitting behaviors among smoker groups.

Heterogeneity and other problems in a pooled analysis of snus use and mortality.

A recent analysis of Swedish snus use and mortality combined eight Swedish datasets and found that exclusive Swedish male snus users have statistically significant increased mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases and other causes. These findings, from the Swedish Collaboration on Health Effects of Snus Use, are in sharp contrast with previous pooled results from the same group. The discrepant results may be indicative of unresolved statistical problems that haven't been addressed by the collaboration authors in any of their studies.

Mortality among male cigar and cigarette smokers in the USA.

Background: Cigars and cigarettes are both smoked, but much less is known about the former's long-term health effects, due to its low prevalence and infrequent collection of cigar information in national surveys.

Purpose: We conducted a follow-up mortality study of cigar-smoking men age 40-79 years in National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS).

Methods: We used pooled NHIS files linked to the National Death Index to obtain follow-up from year of interview to year of death or December 31, 2015.

Initial Information on a Novel Nicotine Product.

Background And Objectives: This is the first study to assess the appeal and interest among adults in a new consumer tobacco product, ZYN. We also describe ZYN users, patterns of use, and reasons for use.

Methods: Two data sets, consisting of a ZYN-naive consumer panel (n = 5179) and ZYN users (n = 1266), were provided by Swedish Match North America.

Mortality among male smokers and smokeless tobacco users in the USA.

Background: One published study simultaneously reported the mortality associated with cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco (ST) use in the USA. In this study, we focus only on men ages 40-79 years old and extend the follow-up by 4 years.

Methods: We used selected years (1987-2010) of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Linked Mortality Files to classify 46,104 men age 40-79 years with respect to 7 categories of smoking and/or ST use.

The composition of contemporary American and Swedish smokeless tobacco products.

The major components of 70 brands of smokeless tobacco products (STPs) from Sweden and the US were determined to provide greater understanding of the general chemical composition of these products. Various styles of STPs were examined: loose and portion snus from Sweden, and chewing tobacco, dry snuff, moist snuff, hard pellet, soft pellet and plug from the US. The components analysed were major STP components such as water, nicotine, sugars, humectants, sodium ions, chloride ions and ash.

Analysis of coumarin and angelica lactones in smokeless tobacco products.

Differences in health risks between different styles of smokeless tobacco products (STPs) have prompted interest in their relative levels of toxic chemicals. We report here the development of methods for the analysis of STPs for coumarin and for α-angelica lactone (α-AL), both of which have been included in various published lists of tobacco toxicants. We have also determined the concentrations of these lactones in commercial STPs from the US and Sweden, representing 80-90% of the 2010 market share for all the major STP categories in these two countries: 65 products (plus two reference products) for coumarin and 66 commercial products for α-AL.

Metal emissions from e-cigarettes: a risk assessment analysis of a recently-published study.

A recent study reported levels of metal emissions in e-cigarette (EC) aerosol. Herein we present a risk assessment analysis of the published findings using total daily exposure limits. Median and 75th percentile metal concentrations in EC aerosols were used to determine the level of daily liquid consumption (g/d) that would exceed the permissible daily exposures (PDEs) defined for inhalation medications (cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, antimony and tin).

E-cigarette Use Among US Adults: Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.

Introduction: In 2011 the US Food and Drug Administration launched the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study to gather information for regulatory activities authorized by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA).

Methods: Data were drawn from the first wave of the PATH survey, involving interviews of 32 320 civilian and non-institutionalized adults. In addition to conventional classifications for current, former and never smoking and e-cigarette use, we used PATH questions to classify former and current triers of these products.

Quit Methods Used by American Smokers, 2013-2014.

Unlabelled: This report describes the quit methods used in the past 12 months by current and former smokers in the baseline Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study during 2013-2014. Descriptive statistics were used to report the use of single and two or more quit methods; survey weights were used to compute population estimates. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between past year former smokers and single quit method, including individual characteristics.

The Effect of Smoking on Mental Health.

Objectives: The disproportionately high smoking prevalence among persons with mental health problems has raised a concern that this population is at increased risk for smoking-related illness. We investigated the effect of smoking on mental health among US adults aged 18 and older using the 2000-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Methods: Whereas previous literature has reported a significant association between smoking and mental health, identifying the causal pathway is difficult.

The acrylamide content of smokeless tobacco products.

Background: There is considerable interest from a regulatory and public health perspective in harmful and potentially harmful constituents in tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco products (STPs). A wide range of commercial STPs from the US and Sweden, representing 80-90 % of the 2010 market share for all the major STP categories in these two countries, were analysed for the IARC Group 2A carcinogen acrylamide. These STPs comprised the following styles: Swedish loose and portion snus, US snus, chewing tobacco, moist snuff, dry snuff, soft pellet, hard pellet and plug.

Associations of Proposed Relative-Risk Warning Labels for Snus With Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions Among Tobacco Users and Nonusers.

Introduction: The US Food and Drug Administration can require changes in warning statements for modified risk tobacco products. We report an independent analysis of a consumer perception survey sponsored by Swedish Match as part of a Modified Risk Tobacco Product application to change warning labels for Swedish snus products.

Methods: The survey exposed each of 4324 daily exclusive cigarette smokers, 1033 daily smokeless tobacco users, 1205 daily other tobacco users, 726 former users, and 5915 triers/never users to one of four current warnings and two proposed relative-risk labels (No tobacco product is safe, but this product presents lower risks to health than cigarettes, or No tobacco product is safe, but this product presents substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes) for snus.