Flawed Research
Konstantinos Farsalinos and Riccardo Polosa have published a paper looking at the flawed electronic cigarette research that gets published due to defective peer review process
-
by Dave Cross
Share on:
“Research on tobacco harm reduction (THR), and particularly on electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), remains a highly controversial topic in the scientific community. The controversy is also sustained by research, which is often poorly designed, conducted, and interpreted,” say Doctors Konstantinos Farsalinos and Riccardo Polosa.
“Dissemination of inaccurate information on smoke-free alternatives in the media contributes to public scepticism and uncertainty, particularly among smokers, who as a result are discouraged from adopting reduced-risk lifestyles.”
Vapers will probably be well aware of the pair of experts, who have both been working diligently to research the truth about electronic cigarettes since the early days of vaping.
During their time uncovering facts about ecigs, Farsalinos and Polosa have both spoken out about research protocols and frequently debunked poor quality research that attracted large scale media attention.
“Due to the limited evidence on the health impact of e-cigarettes from longitudinal cohorts, several cross-sectional studies have been published instead, mostly showing that e-cigarette use may be associated with diseases of the respiratory and the cardiovascular system.”
They give the example of a study by Parekh et al., which claimed that switching to vaping did not give any stroke prevention benefits and even claimed it increased the likelihood of ex-smokers having a stroke. Typically, the study neglected to include a number of key points such as the timing of a stroke in relation to vape initiation.
“This is not an isolated case. Cross-sectional data such as BRFSS and National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) do not contain any information on exposure initiation or diagnosis. Therefore, they should not be used to make causal inferences, unless questions that would generate information about the age of disease diagnosis and of tobacco and nicotine use initiation were introduced.
“Despite these unacknowledged limitations, BRFSS and NHIS data have been used to show relationships between e-cigarette use and smoking-related diseases in multiple papers, which have been often accompanied by press statements communicating messages that could be interpreted as causal inferences. Consequently, these studies on e-cigarettes are reiterating the same potential mistake confusing associations with causation, leading to unreliable conclusions.”
They go on to highlight that such information can be gleaned from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Survey, and has been used by researchers such as Brad Rodu, but as they do not provide shock negative headlines, “these have been overlooked.”
References:
- Internal and Emergency Medicine - https://www.springer.com/journal/11739
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
Join the discussion
Parliament Fears Two
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs faced questions from a Conservative MP and, oddly, a member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
-
by Dave Cross
Harm Reduction For The Rich
The United Kingdom risks becoming a harm reduction country only for the wealthy, according to Michael Landl of the World Vapers’ Alliance
-
by Dave Cross
Sacrificing Health For 2p Cut
Tory Government alienates vaping voters with its mission to cut tax by an unaffordable 2p to attract voters by placing a tax on vape products in the forthcoming budget
-
by Dave Cross
Scotland Announces Single-Use Vape Action
A ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes in Scotland is due to come into effect on 1 April 2025, under proposed legislation published today
-
by Dave Cross
