The Prevalence of Cigarette and E-cigarette Smoking Among Students in Central and Eastern Europe-Results of the YUPESS Study.

Grzegorz Brożek ,Yelena Loginovich,Zuzana Krištúfková,Paulina Pepłowska,Michał Poznański,Andrei Shpakou,Mateusz Jankowski,Robert Mróz,Justína Gereová,Paulina Majek,Dorota Kaleta,Valeriy Kovalevskiy,Marta Rachel,Jarosław Pinkas,Kamil Kornicki,Krzysztof Bielewicz,Justyna Golonko,Asta Raskilienė ,Liudmila G Klimatckaia ,Jakub Lubański ,Tadeusz M Zielonka ,I A Naumau ,Joshua Lawson ,Jan Zejda

doi:10.3390/ijerph16132297

Abstract

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarette smoking. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use among university students from Central and Eastern Europe and to investigate personal characteristics associated with cigarette and e-cigarette smoking. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was performed between 2017–2018 among university students in five European countries: Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Slovakia. The questionnaire included 46 questions related to the frequency and habits of traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes use. Completed questionnaires were obtained from 14,352 students (8800 medical; aged 20.9 ± 2.4 years) with an overall response rate of 72.2%. Two-thirds of the respondents had smoked a traditional tobacco cigarette and 43.7% had used an e-cigarette. Overall current smoking status included 12.3% traditional cigarette smokers, 1.1% e-cigarette users, and 1.8% were dual users with the remainder being non-smokers. Smoking status differed between the research centres (p < 0.001). Females were less likely to try either cigarettes (OR = 0.83) or e-cigarettes (OR = 0.62) and were less likely to be current cigarette (OR = 0.64), e-cigarette (OR = 0.34), or dual users (OR = 0.33) than males. Perception of e-cigarettes significantly differed between smokers and non-smokers (p < 0.001). Among university students, cigarettes are more popular than e-cigarettes.

Highlights

Electronic cigarettes, known as “e-cigarettes”, are an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarette smoking [1,2]
Cigarettes are more popular than e-cigarettes
There is a lack of epidemiological data on e-cigarette smoking among students from Eastern Europe, especially from Belarus and Lithuania

Summary

Introduction

Electronic cigarettes, known as “e-cigarettes”, are an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarette smoking [1,2]. This electronic device heats a solution called an “e-liquid” to a temperature above. There is evidence showing potential harmful effects of e-cigarette use [7,8,9,10]. Given these debates in the literature, it is important to investigate e-cigarette use and its potential impact on public health [5,6,7]

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Discussion

Conclusion