Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35935711›Full record

ArticleDigital health

Effects of brief exposure to misinformation about e-cigarette harms on Twitter on knowledge and perceptions of e-cigarettes.

Jessica Liu, Caroline Wright, Olga Elizarova, Jennifer Dahne, Jiang Bian, Philippa Williams, Brittany Zulkiewicz, Andy Sl Tan

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Cancer misinformation on social media.CA: a cancer journal for clinicians
    Review
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

8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Jessica LiuDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8455-0127
Caroline WrightPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Olga ElizarovaPlay Collaborate Change, Boston, MA, USA.
Jennifer DahneDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
Jiang BianHealth Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Philippa WilliamsPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Brittany ZulkiewiczAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Andy Sl TanAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
University of Bristol · GBUniversity of Pennsylvania · USHarvard University · USMedical University of South Carolina · USUniversity of Florida · US

Funding

Project SMART: Social Media Anti-vaping Messages to Reduce ENDS Use Among Sexual and Gender Minority TeensR01DA054236 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI TAN, ANDY SL · 2021 to 2025
$3.7M
The Harvard Chan Education Program in Cancer Prevention and ControlT32CA057711 · NCI · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI Karen M. Emmons, ANNE LINDSAY FRAZIER · 2019 to 2026
$3.3M
Project RESIST: Increasing Resistance to Tobacco Marketing Among Young Adult Sexual Minority Women Using Inoculation Message ApproachesR01CA237670 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI TAN, ANDY SL · 2020 to 2024
$3.2M
The benefits and harms of lung cancer screening in FloridaR01CA246418 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI BIAN, JIANG, GUO, YI · 2020 to 2023
$1.7M
Development and Testing of a Depression-Specific Behavioral Activation Mobile App Paired with Nicotine Replacement Therapy Sampling for Smoking Cessation Treatment Via Primary CareK23DA045766 · NIDA · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · PI DAHNE, JENNIFER RENEE · 2018 to 2022
$1.0M
Measuring the Public Health Impact of State-Level Flavored Tobacco Bans on Youth and Adult Tobacco UseR21DA052421 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI TAN, ANDY SL · 2020 to 2021
$446k
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA237670NCI NIH HHS R01 CA246418NCI NIH HHS T32 CA057711NIDA NIH HHS K23 DA045766NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA054236NIDA NIH HHS R21 DA052421
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: This study examined whether exposure to misinformation found on Twitter about e-cigarette harms leads to inaccurate knowledge and misperceptions of harms of e-cigarette use among cigarette smokers. Methods: We conducted an online randomized controlled experiment in November 2019 among an online sample of 2400 adult US and UK cigarette smokers who did not currently use e-cigarettes. Participants viewed four tweets in one of four conditions: 1) e-cigarettes are as or more harmful than smoking, 2) e-cigarettes are completely harmless, 3) e-cigarette harms are uncertain and 4) control (physical activity). Outcomes were knowledge about e-cigarettes and harm perceptions of e-cigarette use for five diseases. We conducted multiple logistic and linear regressions to analyze the effect of experimental conditions on outcomes, controlling for baseline knowledge and perceived harms. Findings: Participants in the 'as or more harmful' condition (vs. control group) had higher odds of accurate knowledge about e-cigarettes containing toxic chemicals ( Interpretation: Brief exposure to misinformation on Twitter reduced accurate knowledge of the presence of tar and the level of toxins compared with smoking and increased harm perceptions of e-cigarette use.

Indexed as

diseasegeneralhealth communicationslifestylemediaonlinepublic healthsmokingtwitter

Identifiers

PMID35935711
PMCPMC9350525
OpenAlexW4289537007

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.