Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29248896›Full record

ArticleTobacco control2018

Heat-not-burn tobacco product use in Japan: its prevalence, predictors and perceived symptoms from exposure to secondhand heat-not-burn tobacco aerosol.

Takahiro Tabuchi, Silvano Gallus, Tomohiro Shinozaki, Tomoki Nakaya, Naoki Kunugita, Brian Colwell

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Tobacco control, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
145citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

145 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Exposure to Heated Tobacco Products and Adverse Health Effects, a Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Waterpipe Smoking Among Japanese Teens and Young Adults: an Emerging Public Health Concern.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
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  11. Recent Trends in Cigarette and HTP Use in Japan: A Scoping Review.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026
    Article
  12. Review
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85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Takahiro TabuchiCancer Control Center, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-1050-3125
Silvano GallusDepartment of Epidemiology, Laboratory of Lifestyle Epidemiology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche 'Mario Negri', Milan, Italy.
Tomohiro ShinozakiDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Tomoki NakayaDepartment of Geography, College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Naoki KunugitaDepartment of Environmental Health, National Institute of Public Health, Wako City, Saitama, Japan.
Brian ColwellSchool of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesA heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco product, IQOS, was first launched in Japan and Italy as test markets and is currently in commerce in 30 countries. Using two data sources, we examined interest in HNB tobacco (IQOS, Ploom and glo), its prevalence, predictors of its use and symptoms from exposure to secondhand HNB tobacco aerosol in Japan, where HNB tobacco has been sold since 2014.

methodsPopulation interest in HNB tobacco was explored using Google search query data. Prevalence of HNB tobacco current use (ie, use in the previous 30 days) was calculated using a longitudinal internet survey of 8240 individuals (15-69 years old in 2015) followed up to 2017. Rates of perceived symptoms from exposure to exhaled aerosol of others' HNB tobacco were also calculated.

resultsThe largest internet search volume for IQOS occurred in April 2016 in the week after a popular national entertainment TV show introduced IQOS. For Ploom and glo, search volumes have remained limited since their launch. Prevalence of IQOS users increased from 0.3% in January-February 2015 to 0.6% in January-February 2016 and up to 3.6% in January-February 2017, while estimated rates of use of other HNB tobacco products remained low in 2017. Respondents who had seen the TV programme in 2016 were more likely to have used IQOS than those who had not seen it (10.3% vs 2.7%). Among never-smokers who had been exposed to secondhand HNB tobacco aerosol, nearly half reported at least one acute symptom, although these symptoms were not serious.

conclusionsA popular TV programme triggered IQOS diffusion in Japan. Extrapolating from survey results to the general population, around 3.1 million people currently use IQOS in Japan. Tobacco control organisations and governments should closely monitor HNB tobacco and consider how to regulate it.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAerosolsAgedAir PollutionElectronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsFemaleHumansInternetJapanMaleMiddle AgedSmokingTobacco ProductsYoung AdultAerosolselectronic nicotine delivery devicesnon-cigarette tobacco productssurveillance and monitoring

Identifiers

PMID29248896
PMCPMC6073918

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.