Article Text
Abstract
Objectives This study investigated the prevalence and correlates of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) use in Taiwan.
Design and setting We studied a nationally representative random sample in the 2015 Taiwan Adult Smoking Behavior Survey.
Participants This study included 26 021 participants aged 15 years or older (51% women, 79% non-smokers, 16% aged 15–24 years), after excluding 31 persons (0.1%) who had missing information on e-cigarette use.
Primary outcome measures The prevalence of ever having used e-cigarettes was calculated in the overall sample and by smoking status (current, former and never) or age (15–24, 25–44 and ≥45 years). We performed multivariable log-binomial regression to assess correlates of ever having used e-cigarettes among all participants and separately for subgroups by smoking status and age.
Results Approximately 3% of all participants had ever used e-cigarettes. The prevalence of ever having used e-cigarettes was high in current smokers (14%) and people aged 18–24 years (7%). E-cigarette use was particularly common in people aged 15–24 years who were current (49–52%) or former (22–39%) smokers. Ever having used e-cigarettes was positively associated with tobacco smoking (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 21.5, 95% CI 15.4 to 29.8, current smokers; aPR: 8.3, 95% CI 15.2 to 13.1, former smokers), younger age and high socioeconomic status. Age remained a significant factor of ever having used e-cigarettes across smoking status groups. Among non-smokers, men had a 2.4-fold (95% CI 1.5 to 3.8) greater prevalence of e-cigarette use than women.
Conclusions E-cigarette use was uncommon in the general population in Taiwan, but prevalence was high among smokers and young people. This study highlights challenges that e-cigarettes pose to tobacco control, which warrant high priority action by policymakers and public health professionals. E-cigarette regulations should focus on young people.
- Electronic cigarettes
- Smoking and tobacco
- Young adult
- EPIDEMIOLOGY
- PUBLIC HEALTH
- Taiwan
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Footnotes
Contributors All authors contributed to drafts and approved the final version of the paper. H-CC and P-YC conceived the study and were in charge of the major work of manuscript writing. Y-WT and M-NS contributed to data acquisition, led the study design and revised the article for important intellectual content. Y-TW undertook the data analysis and contributed to results interpretation. H-CC, P-YC and Y-TW wrote the article. All authors had full access to all of the data and take responsibility for its integrity and accuracy in the analysis; P-YC is the guarantor of this manuscript on behalf of his coauthors. Imad Sawaya, MS, provided language editing and proofreading.
Funding National Yang-Ming University received research funding from the tobacco health and welfare surcharges by the Health Promotion Administration for the project titled “International Collaborative Project for the Evaluation of Medical Services for Smoking Cessation (G1031227-105)”.
Disclaimer The research presented in this paper is that of the authors and does not reflect the official policy of the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan. The study sponsor had no role in the study design, data analysis or interpretation and the researchers were independent of the sponsor in writing the manuscript.
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval The Institutional Review Board of National Yang-Ming University.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement No additional data are available.