A cross-sectional questionnaire regarding e-cigarettes and tobacco products was
created based on a review of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National
Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), current e-cigarette publications, tobacco
publications, and related news releases.15 (link)19 (link, link, no link found, link) The NYTS was used as a
guide to quantify tobacco and e-cigarette use, while the publications by Weaver
et al and Gibson et al provided a framework for the questions about perception
of benefits and harms related to e-cigarettes. Survey questions about
e-cigarettes and smoking cessation were modeled after those found in the
publication by Franks et al.19 (link) Additional insight was
gathered by visiting local vape shops to help guide terminology and trends in
e-cigarette use. A draft questionnaire was presented at a roundtable discussion
to 20 faculty and administrators for feedback. To further improve validity, the
authors invited four college students to pilot the survey and review it for
readability. To assess reliability, 17 college students piloted the online
questionnaire two times each about one week apart. Responses of those students
were evaluated using Spearman’s correlation coefficients and Cronbach’s alpha. A
statistician reviewed the validity results and final revisions were made to the
questionnaire. The study was deemed exempt by the authors’ Institutional Review
Board (IRB).
The questionnaire was built with conditional logic to learn about personal use of
various tobacco forms based on definitions from the NYTS.18 Participants were divided into three groups current user, past user or never.
Consistent with the NYTS, use of traditional cigarettes was defined as smoking
at least 100 cigarettes or 5 packs ever. Use of combustible non-cigarette
tobacco (cigars, cigarillos, pipes, hookah, or little filtered cigars) was
defined as smoking at least 50 times ever. Use of smokeless tobacco (chewing
tobacco, snuff, snus, or dip) was defined as at least 20 uses ever. Use of
e-cigarettes was defined as using at least once ever. Never users are all
participants who selected “no” when asked if they had ever used the amount of
tobacco product as defined. To determine if participants were current or past
users, participants were asked if they now use each product every day, some days
or not at all. Those who selected every day or some days were considered current
users. If participants selected not at all then they were considered past users.
Perception of e-cigarettes compared to other tobacco products was assessed using
a 6-point Likert scale with 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat
disagree, 3.5 = unsure, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, 6 = strongly agree.
Additional questions asked about perceived risks and benefits of
e-cigarettes.
created based on a review of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National
Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), current e-cigarette publications, tobacco
publications, and related news releases.15 (link)
guide to quantify tobacco and e-cigarette use, while the publications by Weaver
et al and Gibson et al provided a framework for the questions about perception
of benefits and harms related to e-cigarettes. Survey questions about
e-cigarettes and smoking cessation were modeled after those found in the
publication by Franks et al.19 (link) Additional insight was
gathered by visiting local vape shops to help guide terminology and trends in
e-cigarette use. A draft questionnaire was presented at a roundtable discussion
to 20 faculty and administrators for feedback. To further improve validity, the
authors invited four college students to pilot the survey and review it for
readability. To assess reliability, 17 college students piloted the online
questionnaire two times each about one week apart. Responses of those students
were evaluated using Spearman’s correlation coefficients and Cronbach’s alpha. A
statistician reviewed the validity results and final revisions were made to the
questionnaire. The study was deemed exempt by the authors’ Institutional Review
Board (IRB).
The questionnaire was built with conditional logic to learn about personal use of
various tobacco forms based on definitions from the NYTS.18 Participants were divided into three groups current user, past user or never.
Consistent with the NYTS, use of traditional cigarettes was defined as smoking
at least 100 cigarettes or 5 packs ever. Use of combustible non-cigarette
tobacco (cigars, cigarillos, pipes, hookah, or little filtered cigars) was
defined as smoking at least 50 times ever. Use of smokeless tobacco (chewing
tobacco, snuff, snus, or dip) was defined as at least 20 uses ever. Use of
e-cigarettes was defined as using at least once ever. Never users are all
participants who selected “no” when asked if they had ever used the amount of
tobacco product as defined. To determine if participants were current or past
users, participants were asked if they now use each product every day, some days
or not at all. Those who selected every day or some days were considered current
users. If participants selected not at all then they were considered past users.
Perception of e-cigarettes compared to other tobacco products was assessed using
a 6-point Likert scale with 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat
disagree, 3.5 = unsure, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, 6 = strongly agree.
Additional questions asked about perceived risks and benefits of
e-cigarettes.
