Researchers want to find out what people think are the most important questions that need answering about vaping, so they can prioritise the right areas for future research into the safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes. They are also asking doctors and health professionals to take part in the survey which goes live on Monday 7 th January 2019.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and e-cigarettes are now the most popular method used by people trying to give up. 37% of smokers use them for quit attempts 1 , and 2.6 million adults are currently vaping as a safer alternative to tobacco 2 . Recently, Public Health England estimated they are likely to be 95% safer than cigarettes 3 but very little is known about possible long-term effects of vaping on health.

Smokers, vapers and non-smokers are being invited to help shape the future of medical research into the safety of e-cigarettes by taking part in a new online survey run by the University of Nottingham’s UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies .

Click here for full story

Leading the study, Dr Abby Hunter, from the University’s Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, said: “Vaping has revolutionised the ‘quit smoking’ industry and has certainly helped millions of smokers give up cigarettes. However, because e-cigarettes are a fairly recent product, very little is known about the long-term health effects of using them. To guide our future research into this we need to identify the most important questions associated with vaping and would like the opinions of the general public as well as clinicians.

“The survey is available online and anyone can take part. You’ll be asked to indicate your smoking status (i.e. whether you have ever smoked or vaped, or have never smoked), and whether you are a healthcare professional. You will have the chance to submit as many questions as you like about electronic cigarettes.”

The survey will be open for two months, until 7thMarch 2019. Once it has closed the responses will be organised into themes and a second survey launched for people who took part to rank their top 10 priority questions for research into electronic cigarettes.

A third part of the priority setting exercise will involve a workshop with members of the public and clinicians to discuss the top 30 priority questions as defined by the second survey. The final top-10 questions will be unveiled in the spring of 2020.

The Electronic Cigarettes surveys and discussion workshop have been organised by researchers at the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies with the help of the James Lind Alliance (JLA) who are experts in Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs).

The full link to the survey is: https://nottingham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/electronic-cigarettes-priority-setting-partnership-survey

References

1West R, Bear E, Brown J. (2016). Trends in electronic cigarette use in England. University College London, Smoking Toolkit Study, 21.

2Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). “Use of electronic cigarettes (vapourisers) among adults in Great Britain”. 2017.

3McNeil A, Brose LS, Calder R, Bauld L & Robson D (2018). Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018. A report commissioned by Public Health England. London: Public Health England.

— Ends —

Our academics can now be interviewed for broadcast via our Media Hub, which offers a Globelynx fixed camera and ISDN line facilities at University Park campus. For further information please contact a member of the Communications team on +44 (0)115 951 5798, email pressoffice@nottingham.ac.uk or see the Globelynx website for how to register for this service.

For up to the minute media alerts, follow us on Twitter

Notes to editors:

The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named both Sports and International University of the Year in the 2019 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer, proud of our Athena SWAN silver award, and a key industry partner- locally and globally.