Parole chiave
heat tobacco products
electronic cigarettes
heat-not-burn products
young people
Abstract
Background
The nicotine market has rapidly evolved with the emergence of newer forms of smoking device that have been expanded worldwide, such as electronic cigarettes (eCig) which heat a solution (e-liquid) to create vapour and heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products, which heats tobacco at a temperature below the point of combustion. Their use is increasing at an alarming rate; it is believed it will surpass the use of traditional cigarettes in next 5 years, mostly among neversmokers and young people.
Objective
There are not many studies investigating knowledge and behaviour about heat tobacco products (HTP) among teenagers, so the aim of this study is to validate the SECRHET questionnaire (Smoking E-CigaRette and HEat-noT-burn products) on knowledge and behaviour on cigarette and HTP among youth.
Methods
The study was conducted in February and March 2019 inside Sapienza University of Rome and high school Giulio Cesare of Rome. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was performed to investigate smoking habits and measures knowledge about HTP among Italian teenagers.
Outcomes
A sample of 60 students took part in the validation of the questionnaire. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0,635, corresponding to a sufficient reliability.
Conclusion
There is little or no data on consumption or perceptions of HTP products among youth and evidence suggests the usefulness of a standardized and validated questionnaire available to monitoring of awareness, interest in trying and prevalence of use of these novel products among young people