E-cigarette use, perceptions, and cigarette smoking intentions in a community sample of young adult nondaily cigarette smokers.

Abstract

E-cigarettes have been suggested as a strategy for reducing harm from cigarettes. While e-cigarettes could be a less-harmful alternative to cigarettes for those trying to quit, there may also be costs that outweigh any benefits of reduction. The purpose of the present study was to prospectively investigate perceptions of e-cigarettes, cigarette smoking intentions and their associations with e-cigarette use over time. Community participants (n = 348, 57% male) aged 18–24 were recruited for a longitudinal study of tobacco use. Inclusion criteria included non-daily cigarette smoking for ≥ 6 months with no history of daily smoking. Participants reported e-cigarette use over the past 14 days at baseline and for the past 9 days at 3, 6, and 9 months. Assessments were completed online or via mobile phone. Across the 4 assessments, 22–33% of participants reported recent e-cigarette use. Intent to quit smoking cigarettes and intent to maintain smoking were unrelated to e-cigarette frequency. E-cigarette frequency was positively associated with perceiving e-cigarettes as less harmful than cigarettes and more positive e-cigarette expectancies (ps < .05). E-cigarette use was also more frequent among those who smoked cigarettes frequently and who used e-cigarettes to circumvent cigarette bans more often (ps < .05). The combination of these findings suggests that, at least among non-daily smoking young adults, other factors may influence frequency of e-cigarette use more than harm reduction. Findings instead seem consistent with the hypothesis that e-cigarettes are more often used to complement ongoing cigarette smoking.

To “Vape” or Smoke? Experimental Evidence on Adult Smokers

“…On the other hand, there are concerns that ecigarettes may be used by smokers to circumvent public use bans on tobacco cigarettes, thus reducing the motivation to quit (Brikmanis, Petersen, and Doran 2017;Damle 2015;Dawkins et al 2013;Filippidis et al 2017;Patrick et al 2016;Pepper and Brewer 2014;Shi, Cummins, and Zhu 2016). Smokers could increase their consumption of nicotine (the primary addicitve ingredient in tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes 3 ) and become even more addicted.…”

Use of Electronic Cigarettes in Smoke-Free Spaces by Smokers: Results from the 2014–2015 Population Assessment on Tobacco and Health Study

“…Electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use in smoke-free places has been previously assessed both as a primary motivator for ENDS use [1][2][3][4] as well as a reported condition under which ENDS are commonly used [5][6][7]. Viewing people using ENDS in a smoke-free place may provide a mechanism through which ENDS use can become normalized in smoke-free places [8].…”

“…In general, ENDS use has been investigated as a potential cessation tool, with research suggesting that a primary reason for ENDS use among cigarette smokers may be to reduce or quit tobacco use [1,2,32,33]. Further, some research has shown that ENDS may be used to supplement or replace cigarettes in place of complete tobacco cessation [3,4,33,34]. Similarly, at least one study has theorized that clean indoor air laws may contribute to the selection of ENDS products whose use is harder to detect in locations with restrictions on vaping [6].…”

OralCandidacarriage among cigarette‐ and waterpipe‐smokers, and electronic cigarette users

“…Electronic cigarettes (E‐cigs) are battery operated devices, which are connected to a tank filled with an E‐liquid (usually flavored) containing nicotine in varying concentrations (range: 0–30 mg/ml) (Morean, Kong, Cavallo, Camenga & Krishnan‐Sarin, ). The global use of E‐cigs is increasing particularly among individuals attempting to reduce or quit tobacco smoking (Anic et al., ; Selya, Dierker, Rose, Hedeker & Mermelstein, ; Wang, Zhang, Xu & Gao, ); and E‐Cig users often perceive that vaping is less hazardous to health than smoking (Brikmanis, Petersen & Doran, ; Zainol Abidin et al., ). As nicotine promotes oral Candida proliferation (Liu et al., ) and is usually present in E‐liquids (Goldenson, Leventhal, Stone, McConnell & Barrington‐Trimis, ; Morean et al., ); we hypothesized that oral Candida carriage is higher among cigarette‐ and waterpipe‐smokers and individuals using E‐Cigs compared with never‐smokers.…”