E-Cigarette Use and Transition in Adult Smoking Frequency: A Longitudinal Study.

Introduction: This article presents the results of a longitudinal study examining the relationship between e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking frequency among U.S. adults. The study uses data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study and employs multivariable multinomial logistic regression to assess the association between e-cigarette use and changes in cigarette smoking frequency.

Key points:

* The study found that every day cigarette smokers who used e-cigarettes some days or every day in Wave 1 had higher odds of switching to some days cigarette smoking in Wave 2.
* Every day smokers who used e-cigarettes every day in Wave 1 had higher odds of becoming former cigarette smokers in Wave 2.
* Former cigarette smokers who were experimental or some days e-cigarette users in Wave 1 had higher odds of switching to some days cigarette smoking in Wave 2.
* The study also found that e-cigarette use was not significantly associated with changes in cigarette smoking frequency among some days or experimental smokers.
* The study controlled for potential confounders such as age, sex, race, income, education, residential region, dual or poly use of marijuana, alcohol, other tobacco products, BMI, depression, and length since quitting smoking (for former smokers only).
* The study used Wave 1 and Wave 2 data from the PATH survey and did not use Wave 3 or Wave 4 data due to small cell sizes for some of the smoking frequency transitions.
* The study did not claim causality in the interpretation of the findings due to the unclear temporal order of e-cigarette use and smoking cessation.

Main message: The study suggests that e-cigarette use may be associated with changes in cigarette smoking frequency among continuing smokers and former smokers. However, the study does not claim causality and highlights the need for further research to examine the relationship between frequency of e-cigarette and cigarette use among continuing smokers who have intentions of quitting smoking and the associations between the length of time of e-cigarette use and smoking relapse.

Azagba S, Qeadan F, Shan L, Latham K, Wolfson M. E-Cigarette Use and Transition in Adult Smoking Frequency: A Longitudinal Study. American journal of preventive medicine. 2020;59(3):367-376. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2020.02.024