Sex and Polytobacco Use among Spanish and Turkish University Students.

Sílvia Font-Mayolas,Maria-Eugenia Gras,Mark J M Sullman

doi:10.3390/ijerph16245038

Sílvia Font-Mayolas, Maria-Eugenia Gras + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16245038

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Abstract

Polytobacco use has become increasingly popular among young adults, particularly males, and can be defined as the concurrent use of regular cigarettes and other tobacco products (e.g., e-cigarettes). The present study investigated the use of legal smoking products (cigarettes, waterpipe and electronic cigarettes) among young adults (n = 355) in Spain and Turkey. The survey measured demographics, lifetime and past month tobacco use, waterpipe and e-cigarette use, whether waterpipes and e-cigarettes contained nicotine and reasons for using these substances. The majority of the Turkish (men = 80% and women = 63.9%) and Spanish sample (men = 61.4% and women = 69.3%) were polytobacco users. The most common reason for using e-cigarettes was “to experiment, to see what is like” (Turkish sample: men 66.7% and women 57.1; Spanish sample: men 72.7% and women 93.8%). The most common reason to use regular cigarettes was “to relax and relieve tension” (Turkish sample: men 88.9% and women 77.6%; Spanish sample: men 78.1% and women 76%), while for waterpipe users, the most common reason was “to experiment, to see what it is like” (Turkish sample: men 93.3% and women 80%; Spanish sample: men 78.9% and women 93.8%). The implications for prevention and future research are discussed.

Highlights

IntroductionPolydrug use is defined as the consumption of more than one type of drug by an individual [1]
Polydrug use is defined as the consumption of more than one type of drug by an individual [1].The use of at least two different psychoactive substances among young adults is common and significantly contributes to the addiction problem [2,3,4].The polydrug use phenomenon has been described among nicotine users, in what some authors have called “Polytobacco use” or the concurrent use of cigarettes and other tobacco products [5]
Alternative nicotine and tobacco products (ANTP) include electronic-cigarettes and waterpipes, which have recently increased in popularity [6,7,8,9]

Summary

Introduction

Polydrug use is defined as the consumption of more than one type of drug by an individual [1]. The polydrug use phenomenon has been described among nicotine users, in what some authors have called “Polytobacco use” or the concurrent use of cigarettes and other tobacco products [5]. Alternative nicotine and tobacco products (ANTP) include electronic-cigarettes and waterpipes ( known as hookah, shisha or narghile), which have recently increased in popularity [6,7,8,9]. Hookah use has been identified as a predictor of the subsequent use of tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes [10]. In lower concentrations than in regular cigarettes, a number of toxic substances, including carcinogens, have been found in the vapor from electronic cigarettes [14]

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