Smoking E-CigaRette and HEat-noT-burn products: validation of the SECRHET questionnaire.

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 never-smokers 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.