E-cigarette use common, especially among younger adults and those in the LBGTQ community

1. Adults within the LBGTQ community more likely to use e-cigarettes.

2. Participants with chronic health conditions and current combustible cigarette smokers also had higher rates of e-cigarette use.

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Study Rundown: As e-cigarette use increases, it is important for the medical community to investigate its potential health effects. Currently, there is limited data regarding the prevalence of e-cigarette use in the United States. As a result, the authors of this study aimed to report the prevalence and distribution of current e-cigarette use among U.S. adults. Generally, they observed that e-cigarette use is common, especially among younger adults and those in the LBGTQ community. Limitations of this study included that the data was self-reported and therefore may be subject to reporting or recall bias. Furthermore, the authors acknowledged that currently no standard measurements exist to define the intensity of e-cigarette use.

Click to read the study in Annals of Internal Medicine

Relevant Reading: E-cigarette use in Canada: prevalence and patterns of use in a regulated market

In-Depth [retrospective cohort]: The authors collected data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from the year 2016. This data consists of a health-related telephone panel survey that was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and states and participating territories of the United States. The authors then conducted weighted and direct age-standardized prevalence estimates using this data to assess prevalence of current e-cigarette use by sociodemographic groups, comorbid medical conditions, and states of residence. E-cigarette data was available for a total of 466 842 survey participants, with 4.5% of participants being current e-cigarette users. Furthermore, the group with the highest use was among persons aged 18 to 24 years (9.2% [95% CI, 8.6% to 9.8%)]. When assessing age-specific groups, the authors observed that adults within the LBGTQ community, those with chronic health conditions, men, and current combustible cigarette smokers had higher rates of e-cigarette use.

Image: PD

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