E-cigarettes and the obsolescence of combustion

Association between Harmful and Addictive Perceptions of E-Cigarettes and E-Cigarette Use among Adolescents and Youth-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Recognising the association between the perceived risks of e-cigarettes and e-cigarette usage among youth is critical for planning effective prevention and intervention initiatives; thus, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed.

METHODS

Fourteen databases were searched for eligible studies from the Inception of database until March 2022 to examine the effect estimates of the association between perceptions of harmfulness and addictiveness and overall e-cigarette usage among adolescents and youth.

RESULTS

The meta-analysis showed that in comparison to non-users, young people who were ever e-cigarette users were two times more likely to disagree that e-cigarettes are harmful (OR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.41-3.43) and perceived e-cigarettes as less harmful than tobacco cigarettes (OR: 2.01, 95% CI 1.47-2.75). Youths who were ever e-cigarette users were also 2.3 and 1.8 times more likely to perceive e-cigarettes as less addictive (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.81-2.88) or perceive e-cigarettes as more addictive (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.22-2.73) than tobacco cigarettes, as compared with non-users. The subgroup analysis reported that adolescents were more likely to believe that e-cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes, while youth users perceived otherwise.

CONCLUSION

the risk perceptions of e-cigarettes are associated with e-cigarette use among adolescents and youth and could be the focus of health promotion to prevent and curb the uptake of e-cigarettes among young people.

Smoking Susceptibility in Canadian Adolescent Electronic-Cigarette Users

Background: E-cigarette use is increasing among Canadian youth, with experimentation especially prevalent among never-smoking youth. Among this group, there is concern e-cigarette use contributes to future initiation of smoking through a gateway effect. However, e-cigarette use and smoking share many common risk factors; a postulated mechanism to explain the apparent causal pathway from e-cigarette use to smoking initiation in previously smoking-naïve youth. A better understanding of the relationships between smoking susceptibility and e-cigarette use among never-smoking youth is needed. Purpose/objectives: The primary aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the risk factors associated with smoking susceptibility in youth who have recently used e-cigarettes. Methods: This study used data (n = 40,363) from the 2018/2019 Canadian Student Tobacco Alcohol and Drug Use Survey (CSTADS) to compare the risk factor profiles of susceptible and non-susceptible never-smoking e-cigarette users, as well as susceptible and non-susceptible never-smoking youth who have never used an e-cigarette. Results: E-cigarette use, independent of susceptibility status, was associated with a sociodemographic and behavioral risk factor profile likely to confer a higher risk of initiating smoking. Among e-cigarette users, smoking susceptibility was associated with more smoking risk factors. Conclusions/importance: Study findings support a common risk-factor model, rather than e-cigarette use itself, to explain differences in the likelihood of smoking initiation among e-cigarette users. E-cigarette use and smoking initiation may be interchangeable outcomes amongst those with smoking risk factors. The risks of e-cigarette use, and their regulatory status, need to be balanced with their potential as harm reduction tools.

An investigation of factors encouraging and deterring EC use: a thematic analysis of accounts from UK adults

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore E-cigarette (EC) accounts from a small sample of UK adults with varied smoking/EC experiences. This was to contribute to existing knowledge of adult perceptions and understand the factors that encourage or deter use to inform health messaging aimed at professionals, policy makers and the general public.

DESIGN

Twelve participants, five men and seven women aged 23-55 years (mean age 32.43) with mixed smoking/EC backgrounds took part in face-to-face interviews, analysed using semantic-level inductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis identified three key themes. Social influence (1) relates to the understanding of the social representations of ECs. Representation and knowledge (2) captures the impact of varied EC related communication on perception. Aspects of addiction (3) conveys aspects of nicotine addiction and how this influences EC use.

CONCLUSION

ECs were generally perceived as more socially acceptable than cigarettes by non-smokers, although there were varying levels of acceptability depending on the type of EC device used. There was also unanimity concerning uncertainty surrounding the devices. Behavioural/sensory elements and personal enjoyment of ECs were consistent elements that encouraged or deterred use. Although non-smokers/vapers did not use the devices, they expressed similar apprehensions to those who did.

Electronic cigarette survey characteristics

Introduction

Electronic cigarettes (EC) remain a controversial topic with uncertainty about harm reduction in current smokers, their efficacy in smoking cessation, their potential for addiction, the need for regulation, and the type of information needed to educate the public about the benefits and hazards of EC. Multiple medical institutions and organizations have conducted surveys to investigate the demographics and perceptions of EC consumers in adult and youth populations. However, it is unknown whether these surveys use consistent, reliable, or accurate measures for EC use.

Methods

We analyzed 13 survey articles identified during a review of the use of EC during smoking cessation programs to determine the characteristic features of the surveys and to determine how frequently they satisfied the measurement of important core items suggested by recent articles.

Results

Our analysis focused on 13 studies. These studies represented the work of 13 separate research groups and were published in 10 different biomedical journals with a median impact factor score of 4.1. The median number of participants in the studies was 2,624 (Q1-Q3: 662-6,356); the number of participants ranged from 179 to 19,414. The median number of e-cigarette users in the surveys was 840 (Q1-Q3: 256-3,849). All studies provided clear study goals in their introduction. Five surveys used on-line methods to collect information; four studies provided limited information about the reliability of their data. All studies reported study outcomes and considered limitations. Five studies had limited external validity. None of the surveys collected a complete set of core information recommended by recent authorities on survey methodology for EC.

Conclusions

The surveys reviewed in this project had significant variability in study design, survey population, and study goals. Consequently, comparisons across studies become difficult and limit the external validity of survey studies on EC.

Vaping associated with healthy food words: A content analysis of Twitter

E-cigarettes were initially introduced as a less harmful alternative to combustible cigarettes, but marketing efforts may now be exceeding these claims by associating e-cigarettes with words related to healthy foods. These associations could mislead people to assume vaping is a healthy practice. Tweets from January to March 2017 were obtained from the Twitter Streaming Application Programming Interface (API) to assess content about vaping linked to healthy food words. Tweets were classified into one of nine categories along with their source (marketer vs. non-marketer). We content analyzed original English language public postings on Twitter that included vaping-related keywords and at least one of eight co-occurring healthy food-related labels (e.g., 'natural,' 'vitamin,' 'vegan,' and 'organic') (N = 1205). Chi-square analyses compared themes by message source. Findings suggest vaping is being marketed in ways that could paradoxically lead consumers to believe that e-cigarettes are health-enhancing. We found more tweets representing vaping as health-enhancing (9%) than referring to it as a smoking-cessation device (1%). The largest category of tweets referred to vaping as harmless (28%) and therefore compatible with a healthy lifestyle. Tweets presenting vaping as harmless or with a sensation theme were more likely to be authored by marketers than by non-marketers. Food and drug regulation needs to be more vigilant to prevent misleading advertising from e-cigarette marketers.