TY - GEN A1 - Schilling, Laura A1 - Schneider, Sven A1 - Karlheim, Christoph A1 - Maul, Holger A1 - Tallarek, Marie A1 - Spallek, Jacob T1 - Perceived threats, benefits and barriers of e-cigarette use during pregnancy. A qualitative analysis of risk perception within existing threads in online discussion forums T2 - Midwifery N2 - Objective Previous studies have shown that e-cigarettes are perceived as being less harmful than tobacco cigarettes by pregnant women and might be used to quit smoking during pregnancy. Our aim was to further explore and characterise perceived threats, benefits and barriers of e-cigarette use during pregnancy. Methods Our STudy on E-cigarettes and Pregnancy (STEP) was, among others, based on a netnographic approach of analysing existing threads in German-speaking online discussion forums dealing with perceived threats and benefits of e-cigarette use during pregnancy. For the analysis, we used an inductive-deductive qualitative content analysis. Findings Based on 25 online discussion threads containing 1552 posts, we identified perceived threats, perceived benefits and perceived barriers to e-cigarette use during pregnancy, among others, as main themes. Subthemes identified within the main theme perceived threats were severe nicotine related health risks, potential health risks of additional ingredients, relative risks and lack of knowledge and research studies. As perceived benefits, we identified possibility and facilitation of smoking cessation, harm reduction and financial benefits. Perceived barriers were lack of satisfaction and social stigma. Conclusion Our qualitative results suggest that the perception of the health threats related to e-cigarette use during pregnancy varies according to the nicotine content and the perception of relative risks compared with tobacco cigarettes. In addition to this, risk perception is defined through further health and non-health related barriers and benefits (e.g. suitability of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid, social stigma). KW - Electronic cigarette KW - Pregnancy KW - Risk perception KW - Health beliefs KW - Online forums Y1 - 2019 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-UBICO/frontdoor/index/index/docId/24364 SN - 0266-6138 VL - 79 ER -