Susceptibility to tobacco product use among youth in wave 1 of the population Assessment of tobacco and health (PATH) study

Introduction:
This text is a study on susceptibility and ever use of tobacco products among adolescents and young adults in the US. The study uses data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, a nationally-representative, longitudinal cohort study. The study aims to investigate susceptibility and risk to use tobacco products among adolescents and young adults, highlighting sociodemographic differences and whether users of one tobacco product are susceptible to the use of other tobacco products.

Key points:

* The study finds that at 12 years, 5% were ever tobacco users and 36% were susceptible to use. Seventy percent were susceptible at age 17 years, and the same proportion were ever users at age 22 years.
* Susceptibility levels were comparable for cigarettes and e-cigarette (28.6% and 27.4%, respectively), followed by hookah (22.0%), pipes (17.5%), cigars (15.2%), and smokeless tobacco (9.7%).
* Non-Hispanic (NH) Black and Hispanic adolescent never-users were more likely to be susceptible to future use of a tobacco product than NH Whites.
* Susceptibility was higher with age and parental education.
* Compared to exclusive users of hookah, cigars, or smokeless products, larger proportions of exclusive e-cigarette ever users were also susceptible to cigarette use.
* Among adolescents, lower levels of ever use of tobacco products are often counterbalanced by higher levels of susceptibility for future use, which may suggest delayed initiation in some groups.
* Ever users of a given tobacco product were more susceptible to use other tobacco products, putting them at risk for future multiple tobacco product use.

Main message:
The study highlights the importance of monitoring factors related to uptake of tobacco products, particularly among adolescents and young adults. The shifting patterns of use and changing sociodemographic patterns of susceptibility to products among never users indicate the need for targeted prevention efforts. The study also emphasizes the need for further research to understand the factors influencing susceptibility and use of tobacco products among different subgroups of adolescents and young adults.

Trinidad, Dennis R., John P. Pierce, James D. Sargent, Martha M. White, David R. Strong, David B. Portnoy, Victoria R. Green, et al. “Susceptibility to Tobacco Product Use among Youth in Wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.” Preventive Medicine 101 (August 2017): 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.05.010.