Relationship between tobacco and nicotine products use and clinical presentation at the Emergency Department: study protocol

Background In the last years several alternative to smoking nicotine products have become available. While laboratory and limited clinical studies suggest that these devices are less toxic compared to classic tobacco cigarettes, very little is still known about their epidemiological impact. Visiting the Emergency Department (ED) often represents the first or the only contact of patients with the healthcare system, so a study conducted at ED to assess the impact of these products on health is reliable and reflects the real life. Methods The study will be an observational study, with no intervention or randomization, to analyse the association between severity of clinical presentation during an ED visit as well as the outcome (hospitalization and death) and different patterns of nicotine products use. Approximately 1500–2000 people will be enrolled and categorized according to different pattern of tobacco and nicotine consumption through a specific questionnaire. Discussion There is a lot of debate about the harm reduction potential of alternative nicotine products in terms of their smoking-cessation and risk reduction potential. This study represents an opportunity to document epidemiological data on the link between different nicotine product use and disease diagnosis and severity during an ED visit, and thus evaluate the harm reduction potential claims for these products.