Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data
Abstract Background The impact of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) initial enforcement policy on flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes and subsequent notice for the removal of flavored disposable electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) such as Puff Bar from the market has not been wel...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-10-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14367-3 |
| _version_ | 1811249918343380992 |
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| author | Ellen Boakye Omar Dzaye John Erhabor Ngozi Osuji Olufunmilayo Obisesan Albert D. Osei Aruni Bhatnagar Rose Marie Robertson Michael J. Blaha |
| author_facet | Ellen Boakye Omar Dzaye John Erhabor Ngozi Osuji Olufunmilayo Obisesan Albert D. Osei Aruni Bhatnagar Rose Marie Robertson Michael J. Blaha |
| author_sort | Ellen Boakye |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The impact of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) initial enforcement policy on flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes and subsequent notice for the removal of flavored disposable electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) such as Puff Bar from the market has not been well evaluated. We, therefore, sought to examine the impact of the e-cigarette flavor-related policy changes on the online popularity of Puff Bar, a prototypic disposable e-cigarette. Methods We tabulated the total weekly Google search queries originating from the U.S. for "Puff Bar" and "Puff Bars" from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. We divided the three years into four (4) distinct periods using the dates of the initial announcement to ban non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes (September 11, 2019), the finalization of the FDA enforcement policy on cartridge-based flavors (January 2, 2020), and the notice for the market withdrawal of flavored disposable e-cigarettes (July 20, 2020) as reference time points. Then, we used piecewise linear regression and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) to compare the trends in searches for Puff Bar for the four (4) periods. Results Before the initial announcement to ban non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, online search queries (per 10 million Google searches) for Puff Bar were slowly rising at a rate of 0.58 queries per week (95%CI: -0.80 – 1.97). Following the announcement, searches for Puff Bar increased significantly at a rate of 16.61 queries per week (95%CI: 12.13 – 21.10). The rate of searches for Puff Bar then increased exponentially at 40.08 queries per week (95%CI: 27.32 – 52.84) following the FDA flavor ban, which excluded disposable e-cigarettes. Then, the rate of increase declined but remained relatively stable at 3.67 queries per week (95%CI: 0.69–6.65) until the FDA's notice to remove flavored Puff Bar products from the market. Following this notice, the rate of searches for Puff Bar significantly declined (rate: -4.97 queries per week; 95%CI: -5.40—-4.54). Conclusions The tracking of online search data demonstrates rapid public recognition of the FDA's announcements of tobacco regulatory actions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:55:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3ae7b7668d534797baf17a2c74b7e319 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:55:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-3ae7b7668d534797baf17a2c74b7e3192022-12-22T03:26:22ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582022-10-012211510.1186/s12889-022-14367-3Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query dataEllen Boakye0Omar Dzaye1John Erhabor2Ngozi Osuji3Olufunmilayo Obisesan4Albert D. Osei5Aruni Bhatnagar6Rose Marie Robertson7Michael J. Blaha8Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular DiseaseJohns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular DiseaseJohns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular DiseaseJohns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular DiseaseDepartment of Medicine, MedStar Union Memorial HospitalDepartment of Medicine, MedStar Union Memorial HospitalThe American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction CenterThe American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction CenterJohns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular DiseaseAbstract Background The impact of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) initial enforcement policy on flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes and subsequent notice for the removal of flavored disposable electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) such as Puff Bar from the market has not been well evaluated. We, therefore, sought to examine the impact of the e-cigarette flavor-related policy changes on the online popularity of Puff Bar, a prototypic disposable e-cigarette. Methods We tabulated the total weekly Google search queries originating from the U.S. for "Puff Bar" and "Puff Bars" from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. We divided the three years into four (4) distinct periods using the dates of the initial announcement to ban non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes (September 11, 2019), the finalization of the FDA enforcement policy on cartridge-based flavors (January 2, 2020), and the notice for the market withdrawal of flavored disposable e-cigarettes (July 20, 2020) as reference time points. Then, we used piecewise linear regression and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) to compare the trends in searches for Puff Bar for the four (4) periods. Results Before the initial announcement to ban non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, online search queries (per 10 million Google searches) for Puff Bar were slowly rising at a rate of 0.58 queries per week (95%CI: -0.80 – 1.97). Following the announcement, searches for Puff Bar increased significantly at a rate of 16.61 queries per week (95%CI: 12.13 – 21.10). The rate of searches for Puff Bar then increased exponentially at 40.08 queries per week (95%CI: 27.32 – 52.84) following the FDA flavor ban, which excluded disposable e-cigarettes. Then, the rate of increase declined but remained relatively stable at 3.67 queries per week (95%CI: 0.69–6.65) until the FDA's notice to remove flavored Puff Bar products from the market. Following this notice, the rate of searches for Puff Bar significantly declined (rate: -4.97 queries per week; 95%CI: -5.40—-4.54). Conclusions The tracking of online search data demonstrates rapid public recognition of the FDA's announcements of tobacco regulatory actions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14367-3E-cigarettesDisposableFlavorsFood and Drug AdministrationPuff BarGoogle Trends |
| spellingShingle | Ellen Boakye Omar Dzaye John Erhabor Ngozi Osuji Olufunmilayo Obisesan Albert D. Osei Aruni Bhatnagar Rose Marie Robertson Michael J. Blaha Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data BMC Public Health E-cigarettes Disposable Flavors Food and Drug Administration Puff Bar Google Trends |
| title | Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data |
| title_full | Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data |
| title_fullStr | Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data |
| title_short | Impact of the Food and Drug Administration enforcement policy on flavored e-cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e-cigarettes: analyses of Google search query data |
| title_sort | impact of the food and drug administration enforcement policy on flavored e cigarettes on the online popularity of disposable e cigarettes analyses of google search query data |
| topic | E-cigarettes Disposable Flavors Food and Drug Administration Puff Bar Google Trends |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14367-3 |
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