title: E-cigarette awareness and perceived harmfulness: prevalence and associations with smoking-cessation outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are increasingly advertised as replacements for regular cigarettes or cessation aids for smokers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence and correlates of e-cigarette awareness and perceived harmfulness among U.S. adults and analyze whether these variables are associated with smokers' past-year quit attempts and intention to quit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 4 Cycle 2), conducted from October 2012 to January 2013. Data analyses were performed from June to August 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 77% of respondents were aware of e-cigarettes. Of these, 51% believed e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes. Younger, white (compared with Hispanic), more educated respondents and current or former smokers (compared with non-smokers) were more likely to be aware of e-cigarettes. Among those who were aware of e-cigarettes, younger; men (compared with women); white (compared with African-American); more educated respondents; and current smokers (compared with former and non-smokers) were more likely to believe that e-cigarettes were less harmful. [corrected].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall e-cigarette awareness increased whereas the proportion of smokers who perceived less harm of e-cigarettes declined compared with earlier surveys. However, awareness and perceived harm of e-cigarettes did not show evidence of promoting smoking cessation at the population level.
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: andytan@alumni.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Andy S L
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
authors.forename: Cabral A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bigman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult