Predictors of continued e-cigarette use included low-priced, desire to quit smoking cigarettes, and the ability to use e-cigarettes anywhere, a small longitudinal survey of middle and high school students found.
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“Our findings show that youth who report first trying e-cigarettes because they can be used anywhere or to quit smoking regular cigarettes were more likely to continue e-cigarette use 6 months later, and youth who said they tried e-cigarettes because of low cost were using e-cigarettes on more days 6 months later”.
The ability to use e-cigarettes anywhere and trying to quit traditional cigarettes were reasons associated with continued e-cigarette use.
An estimated 16 percent of the nation’s high school students were using e-cigarettes in 2015, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey.
In-Depth [prospective cohort]: This study surveyed 2 middle schools and 3 high schools in 2 time periods, fall 2013 (wave 1) and spring 2014 (wave 2).
The most common reasons teens gave for initially trying e-cigarettes were curiosity, a cool factor and due to their friends.
More than half the youths surveyed stated that they tried the devices out of curiosity, 41.8 percent cited “good flavors” and nearly a third because their friends used them.
E-cigarettes don’t produce tobacco smoke, but they do contain nicotine.
Researchers revisited the teenagers six months later and asked if they were still using e-cigarettes, and if so, what were the reasons they’d kept vaping.
Kids who cited the low cost of e-cigarettes or their potential help to quit smoking wound up vaping more days on average than those who cited other reasons, the study authors said.
“Increasing the cost of e-cigarettes might be one policy that could be used to reduce vaping in this age group”, Bold said.
Makers of the “vaping” devices launched a flood of new products in the United States ahead of new federal regulations, taking effect on Monday, that require companies to submit e-cigarettes for government approval before marketing them, according to company officials and industry experts.
The Yale researchers, led by Krysten Bold, postdoctoral fellow, and Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, professor of psychiatry tracked e-cigarette use in those youngsters six months later and found that those who had said that they took to vaping due to the low cost involved and for their desire to quit smoking, were continuing to vape.
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Meanwhile, the e-cigarette market in the U.S.is suddenly getting more crowded.
