IntroductionStudies have shown that electronic cigarettes have gained immense popularity and their use has increased dramatically all over the world. However, little is known about the knowledge and attitudes towards e-cigarettes in third world countries such as Pakistan. The aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of teenagers in Karachi regarding e-cigarettes and whether the differences in said perceptions were affected by gender and level of education.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in January 2017 using convenience sampling and interviewed 441 young individuals, aged 13 to 19 years, to determine their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding e-cigarettes. The participants were questioned about their knowledge and its source. Attitudes were judged using four and five-point Likert scales while questions regarding practices focused on single and current use. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were applied to compare the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of teenagers with gender and level of schooling.ResultsThe majority of participants knew what e-cigarettes were (n=277, 68.7%) but did not know about their contents (n=225, 55.8%) and had learned about them from either friends or the internet (n=245, 60.%). Almost half of them (n=190, 47.2%) believed that the reason for e-cigarette use was either peer pressure or to quit smoking conventional cigarettes. An overwhelming majority also stated that; it was either easy or very easy to obtain e-cigarettes (n=277, 68.7%), they would not try smoking e-cigarettes even if a good friend of theirs recommended them (n=287, 71.2%), they were not current e-cigarette smokers (n=370, 91.8%) and they would never promote e-cigarette use (n=371, 92.1%). Statistically significant differences were found with males knowing more about e-cigarettes (p=0.006) and being more common to either have smoked (p <0.001) or be current e-cigarette smokers (p <0.001). Furthermore, middle school students were more likely to have negative attitudes towards e-cigarettes believing they were more harmful (p=0.003) and more addictive (p <0.001) than conventional cigarettes.ConclusionMany people were aware of what electronic cigarettes are but still, it was evident that there was the lack of proper knowledge along with negative attitudes towards e-cigarette use among teenagers in Pakistan due to cultural and social stigmas and lack of advertising. Males and females had considerable differences in their opinions regarding e-cigarette use owing to such social practices being considered taboo by females and males having greater freedom due to patriarchal, familial and cultural systems.

The systematic review aimed to report the prevalence of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) usage among medical students in Saudi Arabia. Electronic databases were searched for scientific research articles published from January 2010 until December 2020. The data search was performed in electronic search engines such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, Embase, Cochrane, and Saudi Digital Library. A total of five research articles that qualified the eligibility criteria were analyzed for qualitative data. The sample size in the included studies ranged from 229 to 1007 participants. The prevalence of e-cigarette usage ranged from 10.6% to 27.7% among medical students in Saudi Arabia. Studies have also reported that the prevalence of e-cigarette usage is higher among the male population in comparison with the female population. The prevalence of e-cigarette usage among medical students in Saudi Arabia is high. Similar to tobacco smoking, e-cigarette usage is a major public health issue and concern among the younger population because they have potential benefits in some and are harmful to some and also it is still unclear whether they are effective for quitting smoking. Regulatory bodies must focus and initiate strict laws and policies to minimize the sales of these products to the younger population. Health promotion strategies need to be developed to reduce the usage of e-cigarettes.