%0 Journal Article
%T Harm perception among Swedish daily smokers regarding nicotine, NRT-products and Swedish Snus
%A Tom Wikmans
%A Lars Ramstr£żm
%J Tobacco Induced Diseases
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1617-9625-8-9
%X The study is based on the Swedish part of a two-nation web-based survey of daily smokers in Sweden (n = 1016) and Norway (n = 1000). Questionnaire items addressed perceptions of NRT-products' and Snus' harmfulness and nicotine's part of the health risks of smoking. Data analyses included cross-tabulations and logistic regressions.A majority, 59% of the answers to the question about harmfulness of NRT-products, and 75% of the answers about harmfulness of Snus, were inconsistent with the scientific evidence by demonstrating exaggerated perceptions of harmfulness. The strongest predictor of consistent answers was the perception of the harmfulness of nicotine. There were also significant associations with own experience of successful use of the products in question. Overall the perceptions of the harmfulness of nicotine were considerably exaggerated. This pattern was more pronounced among women than men. Prevailing misperceptions may be related to the way that different tobacco and nicotine products are presented in the media and other publicly available information sources.Public information about smoking and health should be expanded to include objective and unambiguous information regarding nicotine's part in the harmfulness of smoking and the harmfulness of different nicotine-containing products compared to smoking.This is essential in order to preclude that misperceptions regarding these matters could discourage smokers from adopting effective cessation practices with use of nicotine-containing aids.In the late 1970s the prevalence of daily smoking in adult men in Sweden was about 40% and about 35% in adult women [1]. In 2008 the prevalence had come down to 11% among men and 14% among women [2]. This development reflects an expansion of smoking cessation practices that has been influenced by several factors, for example the invention and pioneer use in Sweden of products for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT-products) and the use, mainly among men, of the Swedish k
%U http://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.com/content/8/1/9