ArticleBMJ open2018
A qualitative exploration of information-seeking by electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) users in New Zealand.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Smoking and e-cigarette use in young adults with disabilities.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Impact of Smokers' Information-Seeking Behavior on Smoking Cessation.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- Counseling in Vape Shops: A Survey of Vape Shop Managers in Switzerland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Intentions to Seek Information about E-Cigarettes: Perceived Risk, Efficacy, and Smoking Identity.Journal of health communication · 2021Article
- It's Just Steam: a qualitative analysis of New Zealand ENDS users' perceptions of secondhand aerosol.Tobacco control · 2021Article
- Characterizing the tobacco and nicotine information environment for information seekers on YouTube.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesGiven recent increases in awareness and uptake of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), we aimed to explore ENDS users' information needs and search behaviours and whether information gaps exist.
designQualitative study using semistructured interviews that probed participants' smoking behaviours and ENDS use; data in this study examine ENDS information-seeking behaviours. We used qualitative description to analyse interview transcripts. PARTICIPANTS AND
settingWe recruited 39 current ENDS users (20 dual users and 19 exclusive ENDS users who reported having previously smoked cigarettes regularly) aged 18 and over, from three urban centres in New Zealand.
resultsSeveral participants used Google to search for information on ENDS' health effects, but described the material they retrieved as vague or contradictory. Some interpreted the absence of information on long-term health effects as evidence ENDS did not pose potential health risks, and several perceived e-liquids as benign. Many relied on information sourced from other ENDS users, gleaned from online forums, YouTube or from discussions with friends and acquaintances; these sources typically presented ENDS positively. Several participants found specialist ENDS retailers provided valuable advice; non-specialist store staff generally lacked detailed product knowledge and sometimes offered inaccurate information.
conclusionPeople seeking information on ENDS' health effects are more likely to retrieve recommendations, product reviews and endorsements from online sources or through exchanges with other users, than they are to find scientific data. Health authorities could help meet potential users' information needs by, first, creating and frequently updating objective lay summaries of the latest scientific evidence; second, by mandating licensing for retailers with guidelines to disclose uncertainty over ENDS' efficacy for cessation and longer-term health effects, and the need for complete substitution of ENDS for combustible cigarettes among those who use these products.
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Registered trials
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