Impact of electronic nicotine delivery systems and other respondent characteristics on tobacco use transitions among a U.S. national sample of women of reproductive age.

Introduction:
This text provides an analysis of the impact of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and other respondent characteristics on tobacco use transitions among a national sample of women of reproductive age. The study aims to identify predictors of tobacco use patterns that differ in harm, which could inform efforts to protect women and children against adverse health impacts of tobacco use. The study design and major points are summarized below:

* The study uses data from the U.S. Population assessment of Tobacco and health (PaTh) study, which includes women aged 18-49 years who completed Wave 1 (W1) and Wave 2 (W2), or W2 and Wave 3 (W3) of the study and were using cigarettes, filtered cigars, and/or cigarillos in the first wave.
* The study examines the proportion of respondents whose tobacco use transitions from Time 1 (T1) to Time 2 (T2) were harm-maintaining (continued using combusted tobacco), harm-reducing (transitioned to ENDS), or harm-eliminating (quit tobacco).
* Multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to examine associations between ENDS use, demographic, and psychosocial characteristics with each transition.

Key Points:

* a majority of women (83%) exhibited harm-maintaining transitions, followed by 14.7% harm-eliminating and 2.3% harm-reducing transitions.
* Use of ENDS at T1 was associated with increased odds of harm reduction and decreased odds of harm elimination.
* Younger women were more likely to make both harm-reducing and harm-eliminating transitions.
* Increased educational attainment, identifying as Black or hispanic, increased psychiatric symptoms, and pregnancy were associated with harm elimination, whereas living at or above poverty was associated with harm reduction.

Main Message:
The study highlights the importance of understanding the impact of ENDS on tobacco use transitions among reproductive-aged women. The findings suggest that ENDS use may increase the odds of harm reduction, while also decreasing the odds of quitting tobacco entirely. Younger women, those with higher educational attainment, and those who identify as Black or hispanic, as well as pregnant women, were more likely to quit tobacco use. These results contribute to the growing body of evidence on the impact of ENDS on tobacco use transitions and have important implications for tobacco control policies and interventions.

Kurti aN, Bunn JY, Tang K, et al. Impact of electronic nicotine delivery systems and other respondent characteristics on tobacco use transitions among a U.S. national sample of women of reproductive age. Drug and alcohol dependence. 2020;207:107801. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107801