Beliefs about the harms of long-term use of nicotine replacement therapy: perceptions of smokers in England.
OBJECTIVE
Previous research has shown that a substantial proportion of smokers believe that nicotine causes serious diseases such as cancer, possibly deterring the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation or smoking reduction. This study examined beliefs about the harms specifically from long-term use of NRT and associations between these and its use for smoking cessation and smoking reduction.


METHODS
Data were collected from 1657 smokers and recent ex-smokers involved in the Smoking Toolkit Study, a series of monthly household surveys of English adults aged 16 and over.


METHODS
Participants were asked if they thought the use of NRT for a year or more was harmful, and if so, to volunteer what they believed the harms to be. They were also asked if they were using NRT for smoking reduction and/or if they had used NRT in the past year during a quit attempt.


RESULTS
Six percent and 25% of smokers respectively, believed that the long term use of NRT was very or quit harmful to health; and a further 29% reported that they 'didn't know'. The most commonly reported harms were addiction and lung cancer. There was no association between these beliefs and use of NRT for smoking reduction or smoking cessation.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant minority of smokers in England believe that the use of nicotine replacement therapy for a year or more is harmful. However, belief that long-term nicotine replacement therapy use can cause health harm does not appear to act as a deterrent to using it in a quit attempt or for smoking reduction.
Tobacco Programme, Department of Health, Wellington House, London, UK.
Andrew
A
Black
Emma
E
Beard
Jamie
J
Brown
Jenny
J
Fidler
Robert
R
West
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000009:adverse effects; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D010465:Perception; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D012923:Social Class; D061485:Tobacco Use Cessation Devices / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult
D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D009538:Nicotine