Cigarette and electronic vapor product use among high school students in Georgia, 2015-2018.

Abstract

Adolescent use of electronic vapor products (EVP) is increasing; however, changes in EVP use in the context of cigarette smoking is less certain. We analyzed trends in EVP and cigarette use among high school students in the state of Georgia. We used self-reported EVP and cigarette use from the annual Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 for 2015 to 2018 (N = 1,405,108). Users were categorized as exclusive EVP users, exclusive cigarette users, or dual users. We assessed current (≥1 day in past 30 days) use of EVPs, cigarettes, and dual users of both products, as well as number of days the products were used among current users. We compared current users, as well as number of days used, across adjacent years using tests for proportion and Wilcoxon t-tests, respectively. The proportion of current exclusive EVP users and dual users increased during 2017–2018 (4.2% to 6.9% and 1.6% to 3.7%, p < 0.001, respectively) after declining during 2015–2017, while the proportion of exclusive cigarette users declined during 2015–2018 (2.0% to 1.0%, p < 0.001). Similarly, the mean number of days of EVP use increased among exclusive EVP and dual users, and mean number of days of cigarette use increased among dual users during 2017–2018 (p < 0.001). These findings reinforce the importance of continued efforts to reduce all forms of tobacco products use among Georgia high school students.