Smoking cessation, harm reduction, and biomarkers protocols in the PhenX Toolkit: Tools for standardized data
Laura Jean Bierut1, Tabitha P Hendershot2, Neal L Benowitz3
1Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine of St. Louis, 660 South Euclid, Campus Box 8134, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Addiction Neuroscience
|April 22, 2024
Summary
The PhenX Toolkit now offers 14 recommended measurement protocols for smoking cessation and harm reduction studies. These standardized measures improve data quality and enable cross-study comparisons for enhanced research impact.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Biomedical Research
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Standardized protocols are crucial for consistent data collection, improved data quality, and cross-study analysis in research.
- The PhenX (consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures) Toolkit provides recommended measurement protocols for diverse research areas.
- Existing PhenX content supports tobacco regulatory research, substance use, and addiction research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and recommend standardized measurement protocols for smoking cessation and harm reduction studies.
- To enhance the PhenX Toolkit with specific measures relevant to smoking-related research.
- To facilitate consistent data collection and analysis in smoking cessation research.
Main Methods:
- A PhenX Working Group of smoking cessation experts convened in 2020.
- A well-established consensus process was followed to identify and recommend protocols.
- The scientific community was invited to review and provide feedback on preliminary recommendations.
Main Results:
- Fourteen selected protocols for measuring smoking cessation, harm reduction, and associated biomarkers were identified.
- These protocols were released in the PhenX Toolkit in February 2021.
- The new protocols complement existing PhenX content relevant to smoking.
Conclusions:
- Adoption of these standardized protocols will enable consistent data collection in smoking cessation studies.
- The protocols facilitate comparing and combining data across studies, increasing scientific impact.
- The updated PhenX Toolkit provides valuable resources for smoking cessation and harm reduction research.
