Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Impact of Cigarette Pack Constituent Disclosures

Federal law requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to disseminate information about tobacco constituents. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act grants FDA broad authority to regulate tobacco products, including helping the public to better understand harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) present in tobacco products and tobacco smoke. According to Section 206 of the Act, using the appropriate federal rulemaking channels and procedures, FDA may require disclosure of tobacco constituents if the disclosed information benefits public health and increases consumer awareness of the health consequences of tobacco products. This study will assess the impact of constituent disclosures on smokers' cigarette packs in a randomized control trial.

Recruitment: Smokers will first undergo screening online or call the study center to complete the screening questionnaire over the phone. Study staff will schedule eligible smokers for 5 in-person visits. For each of their 5 visits, smokers will be asked to bring the number of cigarettes they expect to smoke in an 8 day period.

Informed Consent: Prior to consenting smokers, research staff will visually inspect photo identification of smokers who report or appear to be under age 27. At the beginning of the first appointment, study personnel will explain the consent form and ask the smoker to read the form. Once the participant has finished reading the form, the study personnel member will ask the participant if he or she has any questions. Then both parties will sign the consent form and the participant will receive a copy of the consent form.

Randomization: At the week 2 visit, study personnel will randomly assign participants to one of the two study arms. The investigators will determine the randomization order a priori. Smokers have an equal chance of being randomized to have labels with constituent disclosure messages or labels with litter messages applied to their cigarette packs.

Assessment: Participants will complete 5 computer-based surveys during the study. The first appointment will take around 60 minutes and each subsequent visit will take around 30-45 minutes to complete. At all 5 visits, participants will complete a survey. At visits 2-4, participants' will have their cigarette packs labeled based on their condition. Cigarette packs will be tracked at all 5 study visits.