Patterns of Daily Cigarette and E-cigarette Use among United States Youth and Young Adults: Insights from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort between 2018 and 2019

Abstract

PurposeTemporal patterns of daily tobacco product use among ever users from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort (TLC) between 2018 and 2019 were explored. MethodsThe sample (N = 5274) includes individuals (15–36 years), residing in the United States, who had ever used any tobacco product at Wave 7 (February – May 2018) and provided tobacco use information at Wave 9 (September – December 2019). ResultsThere was a nonsignificant 1.1 percentage point increase in daily tobacco use (on at least 25 of the past 30 days), from 14.6% (95% CI: 12.8, 16.6) to 15.7% (95% CI: 13.8, 17.7). Tobacco product use remained stable over time, as 65.3% (95% CI: 56.4, 73.3) of daily cigarette smokers, 57.0% (95% CI: 43.6, 69.4) of daily e-cigarette vapers, and 8.5% (95% CI: 2.0, 29.3) of daily dual users stayed with their primary tobacco product. There was also some evidence of switching, as 7.5% (95% CI: 3.7, 14.8) of daily cigarette smokers became daily e-cigarette vapers and 2.3% (95% CI: 0.7, 6.8) of daily e-cigarette vapers became daily cigarette smokers. DiscussionAlthough most daily tobacco users were likely to continue using their primary product, some daily users transitioned to daily use of other products – suggesting that policies and public education focused on reducing overall nicotine use are essential for addressing the nicotine epidemic among young people.