Heated tobacco product use frequency, smoking quit attempts, and smoking reduction among Mexican adult smokers.

Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are promoted as less harmful than cigarettes; nonetheless, whether HTPs help smokers quit is uncertain. Data from 4067 Mexican adult smokers surveyed longitudinally every four months (November 2019-March 2021) were analyzed. Mixed-effects multinomial models regressed HTP use frequency (no use=reference; monthly; weekly; and daily use) on sociodemographics and tobacco/nicotine-related variables. Among participants who completed at least two surveys (n=2900) over four months, the duration of their longest smoking quit attempt (SQA) between surveys (SQAs: <30 days; ≥30 days; no SQA=reference) was regressed on HTP use frequency, and changes in the number of cigarettes smoked per day were regressed on HTP initiation between surveys, adjusting for covariates. Consistent predictors of all HTP use frequencies (monthly, weekly, or daily vs no use) were daily smoking >5 cigarettes (ARRR=1.69 [95% CI: 1.12-2.55], 1.88 [95% CI: 1.26-2.81] and 6.46 [95% CI: 3.33-12.52], respectively); e-cigarette use (ARRR =5.68 [95% CI: 3.38-9.53], 6.54 [95% CI: 4.06-10.55] and 2.59 [95% CI: 1.26-5.30]); lower HTP risk perceptions (ARRR=2.12 [95% CI: 1.50-30.00], 2.25 [95% CI: 1.63-3.10] and 2.00 [95% CI: 1.25-3.22]); exposure to HTP information inside (ARRR=2.13 [95% CI: 1.44-3.15], 2.13 [95% CI: 1.49-3.05] and 3.72 [95% CI: 2.28-6.09]) and outside stores (ARRR=2.36 [95% CI: 1.56-3.57], 2.32 [95% CI: 1.65-3.25] and 2.44 [95% CI: 1.41-4.24]) where tobacco is sold; having family (ARRR=2.46 [95% CI: 1.54-3.91], 2.90 [95% CI: 1.93-4.37] and 2.96 [95% CI: 1.52-5.77]) and friends (ARRR=5.78 [95% CI: 3.60-9.30], 4.98 [95% CI: 3.22-7.72] and 6.61 [95% CI: 2.91-15.01]) who use HTPs. HTP use frequency was not associated with quit attempts, except for monthly HTP use predicting SQAs lasting ≥30 days (ARRR=2.12 [95% CI: 1.17-3.85]). Initiation of HTP use was not associated with changes in smoking frequency. Limiting analysis to those who intend to quit smoking also yielded null results. Among Mexican adult smokers, frequency of HTP use was mostly not associated with either cessation behaviors or changes in cigarette consumption, suggesting that HTPs have limited to no effectiveness for smoking cessation.

Informations de copyright

© 2024 Cruz-Jiménez L. et al.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors have each completed and submitted an ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. The authors declare that they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current work. L. Cruz-Jiménez, I. Barrientos-Gutiérrez, D. Vidaña-Pérez, K. Gallegos-Carrillo, E. Arillo-Santillán, R. Rodríguez-Bolaños and J.W. Hardin, report that since the initial planning of the work this research was funded by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health under award number R01 TW010652. I. Barrientos-Gutiérrez reports that in the past 36 months received Grant MR/X004279/1 from the Medical Research Council of the UK and Grant Mexico-28-01 from The Union. J.W. Hardin reports that in the past 36 months participated on scientific review board of Bristol Myers Squibb. M. Kim reports that since the initial planning of the work, the co-author’s study of adult tobacco users’ response toward HTP marketing (2018–2021) received postdoctoral salary support, and participant incentives from FDA/NIH: Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science 2.0, National Cancer Institute (University of California, San Francisco), and in the past 36 months for examining effects of vaping prevention messages for young people, a faculty salary support via subcontract awarded to USC (2023–) from FDA/NIH: Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science 3.0 (University of North Carolina), and for examining social media posts related to non-cigarette tobacco products, a faculty salary support via subcontract awarded to USC (2023–) from National Cancer Institute (University of Iowa). J.F. Thrasher reports that since the initial planning of the work, the project was supported by a grant from the US NIH (the funding covered some of his salary) and that in the past 36 months there were grants or contracts from the UK Medical Research Council and was paid consulting on a UK government funded project related to his area of expertise from the University of Stirling, UK. Finally, J.F. Thrasher reports that in the past 36 months participated on a Local university DSM for a colleague’s project funded by NIH (no payments were received).