Use and Impact of Quantitative Information in Tobacco Risk Communications - Project Summary/Abstract In 2019, nearly 14 of every 100 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older (14.0%) currently smoked cigarettes. Current strategies of tobacco use risk communication include using quantitative information to explain the likelihood that a consequenceof using aproduct will occur (to prevent initiation/encourage cessation) or to explain the reduction of risk when switching products or quitting. Although increasing numeracy (the ability to comprehend numerical information) can increase healthy behaviors, there is a critical barrier in research regarding how numeracy is related to risk understanding and decision-making around tobacco use. There is also a gap regarding how this relationship differs by demographic factors. My overall project goal is to examine the interrelationships among numeracy, risk perception, tobacco product use, cessation, and product switching. These findings will provide evidence for tailored risk communications for individuals with differing numeracy levels. In the F99 phase, we will analyze cross-sectional and longitudinal data to determine whether or not there are associations among numeracy, risk comprehension, and tobacco use behaviors, and if these associations differ by demographic factors. We will use these findings to determine who should be targeted with public health campaigns and how risk should be communicated. In the K00 phase, we aim to find, defend, implement, evaluate, and modify public health campaign strategies to disseminate risk information. Risk communication will be tailored for subpopulations with differing numeracy levels. Numeracy, risk perception, and tobacco-related behaviors are expected to be associated, providing evidence for tailored risk communication for subpopulations with differing numeracy. By identifying which segments of the population have low numeracy (F99 phase), these specific subgroups can be targeted with tailored educational campaigns that communicate risk in a numeracy-level appropriate manner (K00 phase). This project will use both objective and subjective numeracy measures, different types of risk perceptionmeasures, and will look at familiar (e.g., lung cancer) and less familiar (e.g., bladder cancer) tobacco-related health risks. We will analyze data from nationally representative data sets (The Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH), the Health information National Trends Survey (HINTS), and the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)) which contain demographic, tobacco use, risk perception, and numeracy measures. The proposed studies will explore numeracy and risk perception of tobacco-related diseases and will add to current literature in this area by focusing on its relationship with specific tobacco-related health behaviors: use, cessation, and product switching. This research will advance the field of cancer prevention by exploring how tobacco product risk can best be communicated to groups that need it. These communications will encourage healthy behaviors and decrease tobacco-related disease outcomes (such as cancer). The findings will help to inform who should be targeted with public health campaigns, how risk should be communicated, and whether these campaigns are efficient.
