ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2023
Exploring electronic cigarette portrayals: a content and thematic analysis of African online news coverage.
Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and determinants of e-cigarette use in South Asia: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- When meta-analysis misleads: the need for methodological integrity in e-cigarette research.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Comparing self-rated health among exclusive e-cigarette users and traditional cigarette smokers: an analysis of the Health Survey for England 2019.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Healthcare professional communication behaviours, skills, barriers, and enablers: Exploring the perspectives of people living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Health psychology openArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundElectronic cigarette use has surged internationally in recent years, with numerous countries noting an uptick in users. Despite this, the portrayal of e-cigarette usage in African news remains unclear.
methodsThis research investigates the subject, employing a mixed-methodology approach. The study units were news articles on electronic cigarette use retrieved from AllAfrica, an online African news archive. A total of 38 online news and opinion articles published between June 2017 and June 2022 qualified the exclusion and inclusion criteria. A content analysis revealed prevalent codes and themes, while a thematic analysis explored the association between news sources and framing.
resultsThe results indicate that articles and arguments presenting e-cigarettes positively outnumber those with a negative slant. The health impacts of electronic cigarettes emerged as the most discussed topic, with health authorities frequently cited as news sources. However, these health authorities often lacked a unified stance on e-cigarette safety.
conclusionThe lack of consensus among health officials could have public health consequences, possibly resulting in the formulation of uninformed policies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.