Electronic cigarette use and smoking cessation behavior among adolescents in China

Introduction:
This text discusses a study on electronic cigarette use among Chinese adolescents and its association with smoking abstinence. The study used a mobile internet survey to collect data from a sample of 2042 adolescents. The key points and main message of the text are summarized below.

Key Points:

* The study found that nearly 90% of the adolescents were aware of electronic cigarettes and over a quarter of them had ever used them.
* The odds ratio for ever users of electronic cigarettes to have tried to quit smoking conventional cigarettes was 1.60 that of never users.
* For those who tried to quit smoking, 36.02% indicated that they used electronic cigarettes to help quit. However, only 13.52% of those who had used electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking were successful in quitting.
* The study shows that e-cigarette use may at least be associated with quitting attempts, as ever users of electronic cigarettes were shown to be significantly more likely to have tried to quit smoking than never users.
* The Internet provides easy access to information and sales of electronic cigarettes for current, former, and never smokers.
* Current smokers tend to use electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking.
* The study raises concerns about the motivations of never smokers for using electronic cigarettes, as adolescents who did not have a history of tobacco use but used electronic cigarettes out of fashion or curiosity may be more susceptible to the marketing strategies of e-cigarette manufacturers.

Main Message:
The study highlights the popularity of electronic cigarettes among Chinese adolescents and their association with smoking abstinence. The findings suggest that e-cigarette use may be associated with quitting attempts, but the real impacts of e-cigarette use on smoking cessation remain to be seen. The study also raises concerns about the motivations of never smokers for using electronic cigarettes and the potential risks of e-cigarette marketing strategies. As a regulatory expert, it is crucial to consider these findings when developing evidence-based regulatory policies on electronic cigarettes, especially in China, where cigarette gifting and sharing have long been seen as an important way of maintaining social networking and relationships by smokers.

Wang, Xinsong, Xiulan Zhang, Xiaoxin Xu, and Ying Gao. “Electronic Cigarette Use and Smoking Cessation Behavior among Adolescents in China.” Addictive Behaviors 82 (July 2018): 129–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.02.029.