Socioeconomic patterning of vaping by smoking status among UK adults and youth.

Introduction:
This article presents a study examining the socioeconomic patterns of vaping among youth and adults in the UK. The study aims to understand the potential impacts of vaping on socioeconomic inequalities in health by analyzing vaping prevalence by smoking status and the relationship between vaping and smoking cessation.

Key Points:

* The study used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative survey.
* The study found that vaping was more prevalent among disadvantaged youth, especially among those who had never smoked.
* Among adults, vaping was more common among ex-smokers, and socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with reduced odds of being an ex-smoker, but this association was weaker among those who vaped.
* The study used marginal structural models to adjust for confounding and collider bias, which can arise when stratifying by smoking status.
* The study found that vaping was more likely for disadvantaged youth, and socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with vaping among ex-smokers, while there was little to no effect of SEP on vaping among never or current smokers.
* The study suggests that if e-cigarettes are especially appealing or helpful to disadvantaged smokers, they could have a long-term impact of reducing health inequalities.
* The study highlights the need for further research on the impact of vaping on socioeconomic inequalities in smoking and health.

Main Message:
The study provides evidence of complex variations in vaping inequalities by age and smoking status, with vaping being more prevalent among disadvantaged youth and socioeconomic disadvantage being associated with vaping among ex-smokers. The study also suggests that if e-cigarettes are especially appealing or helpful to disadvantaged smokers, they could have a long-term impact of reducing health inequalities. However, further research is needed to understand the potential net impacts of these opposing trends fully. Overall, the study highlights the importance of considering socioeconomic inequalities when regulating vaping and other tobacco control interventions.

Green MJ, Gray L, Sweeting H, Benzeval M. Socioeconomic patterning of vaping by smoking status among UK adults and youth. BMC public health. 2020;20(1):183. doi:10.1186/s12889-020-8270-3