A new study gauges smokers’ perceptions of five smokeless
products: General Snus from Swedish Match, Camel Snus from Reynolds, Marlboro Snus
from Phillip Morris, and Stonewall and Ariva dissolvable pellets (which are no
longer marketed) from Star Tobacco.
The study, appearing in Nicotine & Tobacco Research
(abstract here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23239843
), was authored by Dorothy Hatsukami, a tobacco researcher from the University
of Minnesota and former member of the FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory
Committee, and colleagues from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Oregon
Research Institute.
Dr. Hatsukami recruited 97 smokers interested in
quitting. After not smoking for five
hours, the subjects sampled each of the five products on separate days over a
two-week period (brand names were hidden).
They then answered 21 questions about satisfaction, psychological
reward, aversion (dizziness, nausea, other bothersome side effects), relief of
craving/withdrawal, ease of use, comfort and dependence concerns. Answers were based on a Likert scale ranging
from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely); 4 is neutral. At the end of the sampling period they were
asked to pick a product to use during two weeks of smoking abstinence.
| Average Smokers’ Scores For Smokeless Tobacco Products During Sampling Period | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product (Nicotine Content, mg) | Satisfaction | Psychological Reward | Aversion | Relief | Ease of Use | Comfort | Dependence Concern |
| General Snus (3.4) | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 1.5 |
| Camel Snus (1.8-2.0) | 3.6 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 5.7 | 4.9 | 2.0 |
| Marlboro Snus (0.1-0.4) | 3.6 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 5.5 | 4.8 | 1.9 |
| Stonewall (0.3-0.6) | 3.3 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 1.8 |
| Ariva (0.2) | 3.4 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 1.8 |
Average scores for the products are seen in the table. Camel and Marlboro snus had the highest
scores for satisfaction and relief of craving/withdrawal, even though they had
vastly different levels of free nicotine, the form that is readily absorbed in
the mouth. The dissolvable products
scored highest for ease of use and comfort.
Smokers’ individual product scores were correlated with
their preferred product for the smoke-free period. Camel snus was picked by the largest
percentage (28%), followed closely by Stonewall and Ariva (24% each), and
Marlboro snus (23%). No one picked
General snus, probably because of its high nicotine content, which accounted
for higher aversion scores.
The research leaves a few questions unanswered. Information on cigarette and smokeless
consumption during the smoke-free period was collected, but not reported. Two-thirds of the subjects in this study were
female, but the authors did not comment on the effect of gender on the scores. Women have considerably different perceptions
of smokeless tobacco than men.
These shortcomings aside, the Hatsukami study provides valuable
data on smokers’ preferences for various smoke-free products.
1 comment:
Both Stonewall and Ariva are again available for sale as of 2013-10-22
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