Dataset Information

Communicating the risks of tobacco and alcohol co-use.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While tobacco and alcohol co-use is highly prevalent across the United States, little experimental research has examined ways to counter such dual use. We developed and tested messages about the risks of co-using tobacco and alcohol among adults who used a combustible tobacco product and drank alcohol within the 30 days.

Methods

In an online experiment, 1,300 participants were randomly assigned to read different messages about tobacco and alcohol co-use (e.g., Alcohol and tobacco cause throat cancer). Three between-subjects experiments manipulated the presence of: 1) a marker word (e.g., Warning), 2) text describing the symptoms of health effects and a quitting self-efficacy cue, and 3) an image depicting the health effect. Participants rated each message using a validated Perceived Message Effectiveness (PME) scale. We used independent samples t-tests to examine differences between experimental conditions. Results include effect sizes (Cohen's d) to compare standardized mean differences.

Results

Our sample was 64% male, 70% white, 23% Black, and 17% Hispanic/Latino with a mean age of 42.4 (SD = 16.4) years. Messages that described the symptoms of the health effect (d = 0.17, p = 0.002) and included an image (d = 0.11, p = 0.04) were rated significantly higher in PME compared with messages that did not describe symptoms and were text-only. We found no significant effects of a marker word or self-efficacy cue on PME.

Conclusions

Messages that describe the symptoms of health effects and include text and images may be particularly effective for communicating the risks of tobacco and alcohol co-use and decreasing adverse health effects from co-use.

SUBMITTER: Kowitt SD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9708929 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Communicating the risks of tobacco and alcohol co-use.

Kowitt Sarah D SD Cox Melissa J MJ Jarman Kristen L KL Kong Amanda Y AY Sivashanmugam Arvind A Cornacchione Ross Jennifer J Goldstein Adam O AO Ranney Leah M LM

Addictive behaviors 20220531

<h4>Background</h4>While tobacco and alcohol co-use is highly prevalent across the United States, little experimental research has examined ways to counter such dual use. We developed and tested messages about the risks of co-using tobacco and alcohol among adults who used a combustible tobacco product and drank alcohol within the 30 days.<h4>Methods</h4>In an online experiment, 1,300 participants were randomly assigned to read different messages about tobacco and alcohol co-use (e.g., Alcohol a ...[more]

PMID: 35700653

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: Alcohol and tobacco strongly increases the risk of cancers of the tongue, mouth, pharynx, larynx, and oesophagus, and are also established risk factors for cancer of the liver, colon, and rectum. It is well documented that these habits are unequally distributed among occupational groups. Most occupational cohort studies lack information on these potentially important confounders, and may therefore be prone to bias. Aim: The aim of the study is to present Nordic standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for alcohol and tobacco related cancer by occupation, after adjustment for alcohol and tobacco, and to compare to the unadjusted SIRs. Material and Methods: The study is based on the Nordic Occupational Cancer (NOCCA) database. We used confirmatory factor analysis models for simultaneous analysis of the cancer sites related to alcohol and tobacco, to obtain factors that allow for computation of adjusted expected numbers from the reference rates. We then calculated adjusted SIRs for the relevant cancer sites for each occupation. Results: For some occupations and cancers, the changes of risk estimates were striking, from significantly high to significantly low and vice versa. Among Nordic farmers, unadjusted SIRs for cancer of the mouth and oesophagus were 0.56 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.51⁻0.61) and 0.67 (CI 0.63⁻0.70), respectively. After adjustment, estimates changed to 1.10 (CI 1.01⁻1.21) and 1.16 (CI 1.10⁻1.22). Unadjusted SIR for pharynx cancer among wood workers was 0.83 (CI 0.75⁻0.91), adjusted SIR was 1.14 (CI 1.03⁻1.25). For larynx cancer, results in the opposite direction were seen: unadjusted SIR for economically inactive was 1.38 (CI 1.31⁻1.46) while the adjusted SIR was 0.91 (CI 0.86⁻0.96). Conclusions: Adjustment for the latent indicators of alcohol and tobacco consumption changed risk estimates for several occupations, gave a less confounded description of risk, and may guide in the identification of true risk factors.

Dataset Information

Communicating the risks of tobacco and alcohol co-use.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Communicating the risks of tobacco and alcohol co-use.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets