title: Website Use and Effects of Online Information About Tobacco Additives Among the Dutch General Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: As a legal obligation, the Dutch government publishes online information about tobacco additives to make sure that it is publicly available. Little is known about the influence this website ("tabakinfo") has on visitors and how the website is evaluated by them.
  
  
  
  This study assesses how visitors use the website and its effect on their knowledge, risk perception, attitude, and smoking behavior. The study will also assess how the website is evaluated by visitors using a sample of the Dutch general population, including smokers and nonsmokers.
  
  
  
  A randomized controlled trial was conducted, recruiting participants from an online panel. At baseline, participants (N=672) were asked to fill out an online questionnaire about tobacco additives. Next, participants were randomly allocated to either one of two experimental groups and invited to visit the website providing information about tobacco additives (either with or without a database containing product-specific information) or to a control group that had no access to the website. After 3 months, follow-up measurements took place.
  
  
  
  At follow-up (n=492), no statistically significant differences were found for knowledge, risk perception, attitude, or smoking behavior between the intervention and control groups. Website visits were positively related to younger participants (B=-0.07, 95% CI -0.12 to -0.01; t11=-2.43, P=.02) and having a low risk perception toward tobacco additives (B=-0.32, 95% CI -0.63 to -0.02; t11=-2.07, P=.04). In comparison, having a lower education (B=-0.67, 95% CI -1.14 to -0.17; t11=-2.65, P=.01) was a significant predictor for making less use of the website. Furthermore, the website was evaluated less positively by smokers compared to nonsmokers (t324=-3.55, P<.001), and males compared to females (t324=-2.21, P=.02).
  
  
  
  The website did not change perceptions of tobacco additives or smoking behavior. Further research is necessary to find out how online information can be used to effectively communication about the risks of tobacco additives.
  
  
  
  Nederlands Trial Register NTR4620; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4620 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6oW7w4Gnj).
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitative Gerontology, Faculty of Human Science, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.|CAPHRI, Department of Health Promotion, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dominique A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1567-1005
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Reinwand
authors.affiliation: CAPHRI, Department of Health Promotion, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rik
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3731-6610
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crutzen
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anne S
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6465-4498
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kienhuis
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Reinskje
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5310-9064
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Talhout
authors.affiliation: CAPHRI, Department of Health Promotion, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3640-2517
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Vries
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult; D014026:Nicotiana
keywords: RCT; information dissemination; tobacco additives; website evaluation; website use