Effects of e-cigarette use on cigarette smoking among U.S. youth, 2004–2018

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine if the declining trend in U.S. youth cigarette smoking changed after e-cigarettes were introduced, and if youth e-cigarette users would have been likely to smoke cigarettes based on psychosocial and demographic predictors of smoking. MethodsAn interrupted time series analysis was used for cross-sectional data from the 2004 to 2018 National Youth Tobacco Surveys (NYTS) to assess changes in cigarette and e-cigarette use over time. A multivariable logistic regression model used 2004–2009 NYTS data on psychosocial risk factors to predict individual-level cigarette smoking risk from 2011 to 2018. Model-predicted and actual cigarette smoking behavior were compared. ResultsThe decline in current cigarette smoking slowed in 2014 (−0.75 [95% CI: −0.81, −0.68] to −0.26 [95% CI: −0.40, −0.12] percentage points per year). The decline in ever cigarette smoking accelerated after 2012 (−1.45 [95% CI: −1.59, −1.31] to −1.71 [95% CI: −1.75, −1.66]). Ever and current combined cigarette and/or e-cigarette use declined during 2011–2013 and increased during 2013–2014 with no significant change during 2014–2018 for either variable. The psychosocial model estimated that 69.0% of current cigarette smokers and 9.3% of current e-cigarette users (who did not smoke cigarettes) would smoke cigarettes in 2018. ConclusionsThe introduction of e-cigarettes was followed by a slowing decline in current cigarette smoking, a stall in combined cigarette and e-cigarette use, and an accelerated decline in ever cigarette smoking. Traditional psychosocial risk factors for cigarette smoking suggest that e-cigarette users do not fit the traditional risk profile of cigarette smokers.