Persistent Misperceptions about Nicotine among US Physicians: Results from a Randomized Survey Experiment

Michelle T. Bover Manderski, Michael B. Steinberg, Olivia A. Wackowski, Binu Singh, William J. Young and Cristine D. Delnevo
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Michelle T. Bover Manderski: Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Michael B. Steinberg: Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Olivia A. Wackowski: Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Binu Singh: Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
William J. Young: Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Cristine D. Delnevo: Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-8

Abstract: We conducted a survey experiment among US physicians to evaluate whether question wording impacted perceptions about the health effects of nicotine. 926 physicians were randomized to receive one of two versions of a question matrix that asked about the “extent to which they agree or disagree that ‘nicotine’ (Version 1) or ‘nicotine, on its own,’ (Version 2) directly contributes to” birth defects, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, depression, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We evaluated whether question condition predicted strong agreement and/or agreement with each statement, and assessed demographic correlates of each outcome while adjusting for question version. Physicians who received Version 2 were less likely to “strongly agree” that nicotine directly caused birth defects (Prevalence Ratio (PR) 0.84, 95% CI 0.72–0.98), CVD (PR 0.89, 95% CI 0.84–0.95), cancer (PR 0.81, 95% CI 0.75–0.87), and COPD (PR 0.78, 95% CI 0.72–0.84). Females were more likely to “strongly agree” that nicotine directly contributes to birth defects and cancer, and family physicians were most likely to “strongly agree” that nicotine directly contributes to CVD, cancer, and COPD. Question wording is important when measuring physicians’ beliefs about nicotine; however, even after accounting for question version, misperceptions about the direct health effects of nicotine were common and varied by sex and specialty.

Keywords: nicotine; perceptions; survey; physicians (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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