E-cigarette use and change in plans to quit cigarette smoking among adult smokers in the United States: Longitudinal findings from the PaTh Study 2014-2019.

Introduction:
This text provides an analysis of the association between e-cigarette use and changes in plans to quit smoking among adult daily cigarette smokers who initially did not plan to ever quit. The study uses data from the Population assessment of Tobacco and health (PaTh) Study collected between 2014-2019.

Key Points:

* The study focused on adult daily cigarette smokers who were not using e-cigarettes and had no plans to ever quit smoking for good.
* Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the association between change in e-cigarette use and change in plans to quit smoking over three assessment pairs.
* The results showed that daily cigarette smokers with no plans to quit had a higher rate of change to plan to quit if they used e-cigarettes daily.
* The rate of change to plan to quit did not statistically differ between those who at follow-up used e-cigarettes some days versus not at all.
* The study controlled for potential confounding factors such as biological sex, race/ethnicity, age group, cigarettes smoked per day, educational attainment, annual household income, and wave pair.
* The study found that among adult daily cigarette smokers initially not planning to ever quit, subsequent daily e-cigarette use is associated with subsequent plans to quit smoking.

Main Message:
The study suggests that population-level research on e-cigarette use that is focused on smokers already motivated to quit may limit a complete evaluation of the smoker population. The findings highlight the importance of considering the potential motivational impact of e-cigarette use among unmotivated smokers, as it could have a disproportionately greater impact on smokers who are non-hispanic white, older, smoke more cigarettes per day, and have less education and lower incomes than the general population of smokers. however, further research is needed to determine whether initially unmotivated cigarette smokers who change their quit intentions alongside becoming daily e-cigarette users will later follow through and succeed in quitting cigarettes or become long-term dual users.

Kasza Ka, Edwards KC, anesetti-Rothermel a, et al. E-cigarette use and change in plans to quit cigarette smoking among adult smokers in the United States: Longitudinal findings from the PaTh Study 2014-2019. addictive behaviors. 2022;124:107124. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107124