Summary
Introduction
There is a lack of research prospectively estimating the age of e-cigarette initiation in U.S.
young adults.
Methods
Secondary analysis of PATH young adults across 2013–2017 (waves 1–4) were conducted.
We prospectively estimated age of initiation of: ever, past 30-day, and fairly regular e-cigarette
use using weighted interval-censoring survival analyses. Interval-censoring Cox proportional
hazard models adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity, and previous use of six other
tobacco products (cigarettes, traditional cigars, filtered cigars, cigarillos, hookah, and
smokeless tobacco) were fitted for each of the three e-cigarette initiation outcomes.
Results
Among never e-cigarette users, by age 21, 16.8% reported ever use, 7.2% reported past
30-day use, and 2.3% reported fairly regular e-cigarette use. Males had increased risk of initiating
ever, past 30-day, and fairly regular e-cigarette use at earlier ages compared to
females. Hispanic young adults had increased risk of initiating ever and past 30-day e-cigarette
use at earlier ages compared to Non-Hispanic White young adults. Previous use of
other tobacco products before e-cigarette initiation increased the risk of an earlier age of
e-cigarette initiation.
Conclusion
Prevention and education campaigns should focus on young adults in order to alleviate the
public health burden of initiating e-cigarette use at earlier ages.
Citation
Pérez a, Bluestein Ma, Kuk aE, Chen B. age of e-cigarette initiation in USa young adults: Findings from the Population assessment of Tobacco and health (PaTh) study (2013-2017). PloS one. 2021;16(12):1. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0261243
