Study protocol of EUREST-PLUS - European Regulatory Science on Tobacco: Policy Implementation to Reduce Lung Disease

Abstract

Efforts to mitigate the devastation of tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality in the European Union (EU) are founded on its newly adopted Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) along with the first-ever health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The aim of this Horizon 2020 Project entitled European Regulatory Science on Tobacco: Policy Implementation to Reduce Lung Disease (EURESTPLUS) is to monitor and evaluate the impact of the implementation of the TPD across the EU, within the context of WHO FCTC ratification. To address this aim, EUREST-PLUS consists of four objectives: 1) To create a cohort study of 6000 adult smokers in six EU MS (Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Spain) within a pre-TID vs post-TPD implementation study design; 2) To conduct secondary dataset analyses of the Special Eurobarometer on Tobacco Survey (SETS); 3) To document changes in e-cigarette product parameters (technical design, labelling/packaging and chemical composition) pre-TID vs post-TPD; and 4) To enhance innovative joint research collaborations on chronic non-communicable diseases. Through this methodological approach, EUREST-PLUS is designed to generate strong inferences about the effectiveness of tobacco control policies, as well as to elucidate the mechanisms and factors by which policy implementation translates to population impact. Findings from EUREST-PLUS have potential global implications for the implementation of innovative tobacco control policies and its impact on the prevention of lung diseases.

Perceptions, Predictors of and Motivation for Quitting among Smokers from Six European Countries from 2016 to 2018: Findings from EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys

“…The current study is part of the Horizon 2020 funded project, European Regulatory Science on Tobacco: Policy implementation to reduce lung diseases (EUREST_PLUS) [ 18 ]. Data come from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Project [ 19 ] Six European Country (6E) Survey, a cohort study using a pre vs. post-TPD implementation design in six EU member states (MS)—Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Spain.…”

The Effect of NNK, A Tobacco Smoke Carcinogen, on the miRNA and Mismatch DNA Repair Expression Profiles in Lung and Head and Neck Squamous Cancer Cells

“…Plenty of epidemiologic data have shown the association of tobacco smoking with the development of human malignancies [1,2]. Although the antismoking campaign in multiple countries has shown positive results, the rate of smokers in both the United States and Europe remains significant [3][4][5]. It is estimated that nearly 40 percent of diagnosed cancers are directly or indirectly related to tobacco smoking [6].…”

“…[8,9]. Tobacco smoking has been one of the most well-established risk factors for both lung and head and neck cancers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. It is known that tobacco smoke contains a mixture of thousands of compounds, including a large number of known carcinogens [2].…”

Smoking in public places in six European countries: Findings from the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Survey

“…itcproject.org/). This cohort survey (ITC 6E Survey) follows the methods of the ITC Project, explained in detail elsewhere 6,7 . Briefly, samples of adult (≥18 years old) current smokers (having smoked >100 cigarettes in their lifetimes and having smoked at least once in the past 30 days) were recruited by probability sampling methods, being representative of all geographical regions in each country.…”