The case of young people who use e-cigarettes infrequently: Who is this population? What becomes of them?

Measures of youth e-cigarette use: strengths, weaknesses and recommendations

“…For example, an analysis of product-use transitions in PATH study showed that approximately one-quarter of youths who exclusively used e-cigarettes in the P30D were not using either e-cigarettes or cigarettes the following year ( 65 ). In a more recent study of youth and young adults (ages 15–24) in Ohio, US, very infrequent use (i.e., on ≤5 days in P30D) was found to be highly stable over time, with 76.8% maintaining the same behavior 12 months later ( 66 ). In fact, using on ≤5 days in P30D was at least as stable as more frequent use (i.e., on 6+ days in P30D): the probability of maintaining ≤5 vs. 6+ use days over 4 months was 81.5% vs. 73.1%, though the significance of this difference was not tested ( 66 ).…”

“…In a more recent study of youth and young adults (ages 15–24) in Ohio, US, very infrequent use (i.e., on ≤5 days in P30D) was found to be highly stable over time, with 76.8% maintaining the same behavior 12 months later ( 66 ). In fact, using on ≤5 days in P30D was at least as stable as more frequent use (i.e., on 6+ days in P30D): the probability of maintaining ≤5 vs. 6+ use days over 4 months was 81.5% vs. 73.1%, though the significance of this difference was not tested ( 66 ). Definitions that include information on persistence or continued use were proposed by Sun et al ( 59 ) in the context of cigarette smoking ( Table 2 ), and could reasonably be extended to e-cigarette use.…”