Adults’ E-Cigarette Flavor Use and Cigarette Quit Attempts: Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study Findings

Abstract

Prevalence of use of e-cigarettes among youth 1 Cullen KA Gentzke AS Sawdey MD et al. E-cigarette use among youth in the United States, 2019. JAMA. 2019; 322: 2095-2103https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.18387 Crossref PubMed Scopus (383) Google Scholar and adults 2 Creamer MR Wang TW Babb S et al. Tobacco product use and cessation indicators among adults - United States, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019; 68: 1013-1019https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6845a2 Crossref PubMed Scopus (448) Google Scholar in the U.S. continues to rise, and flavored tobacco product use is associated with initiation and subsequent use of tobacco products. 3 Villanti AC Johnson AL Glasser AM et al. Association of flavored tobacco use with tobacco initiation and subsequent use among U.S. youth and adults, 2013-2015. JAMA Netw Open. 2019; 2e1913804 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13804 Crossref PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar However, little data exist on whether flavored e-cigarettes are associated with cigarette-cessation behaviors, 4 National Academies of Sciences Engineering and MedicinePublic Health Consequences of e-Cigarettes. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC2018https://doi.org/10.17226/24952 Google Scholar including attempting to quit cigarette smoking and quit success among those who attempt to quit, 5 Kasza KA Edwards KC Tang Z et al. Correlates of tobacco product cessation among youth and adults in the USA: findings from the PATH study waves 1-3 (2013-2016). Tob Control. 2020; 29: s203-s215https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2019-055255 Crossref PubMed Scopus (20) Google Scholar although Buu et al. 6 Buu A Hu YH Piper ME Lin HC The association between e-cigarette use characteristics and combustible cigarette consumption and dependence symptoms: results from a national longitudinal study. Addict Behav. 2018; 84: 69-74https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.03.035 Crossref PubMed Scopus (29) Google Scholar found that among exclusive cigarette smokers, using flavored e-cigarettes 1 year later was associated with lower quantity of cigarette smoking. This study uses U.S. nationally representative data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study to report on e-cigarette flavor use among adult past 30–day dual users of e-cigarettes and cigarettes and to longitudinally evaluate the relationship between flavor use and attempting to quit cigarette smoking approximately 1 year later.