Secondary analyses of the effects of nicotine dose and dose expectancy on puff- and segment-level smoking topography

Puff topography (patterns of puffing behavior) is often measured in tobacco regulatory science. However, analyses typically focus on overall mean puff topography outcomes and not on in-depth analysis of patterns of behavior. In this secondary analysis, we evaluated puff-level and segment-level metrics that may prove useful in the analysis of smoking behavior with promising applications to clinical research and tobacco cessation outcomes. People with daily cigarette use (N = 21; 9 female) completed 4 experimental sessions in which nicotine dose expectancy and nicotine dose (0.80 mg vs 0.03 mg yield) were manipulated. Participants smoked a cigarette in the laboratory during a 10-minute sampling period and puff topography data were collected. Topography was investigated using puff-level measures (eg, time-to-volume metrics) in addition to a segment-level analysis that separated smoking segments by 5-, 10-, and 30-second intervals. Analyses evaluated main and interactive effects of expectancy and nicotine dose on overall puff topography as well as segment outcomes. Analyses demonstrated that low-dose nicotine, but not low-dose expectancy, resulted in a reduced number of smoking segments (P = .006), increased puffs per segment (P = .013), and more rapid time-to-volume metrics (eg, time-to-half total volume) (P < .005). Dose-related differences remained when controlling for traditional measures (eg, average puff duration) suggesting unique utility of these analyses. These data document the use of puff- and segment-level analyses in evaluating pharmacological and contextual moderators of smoking behavior as well as the flexibility of within-session topography data for alternative behavioral analyses. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Participants smoked low-nicotine dose cigarettes more quickly than full-nicotine cigarettes but showed no other differences in overall puff topography. An approach to analyzing topography by creating smoking activity segments defined by different interpuff intervals suggested altered smoking dynamics dependent on dose, such as fewer overall segments with low-nicotine cigarettes. This approach has potential utility and can be readily applied to existing puff topography data.