Patterns and Frequency of Current e-Cigarette Use in United States Adults

Abstract

Background: In the United States (US), electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use prevalence has increased since 2010. Few studies, however, have addressed frequency of use at the population-level. This study examines patterns and correlates of e-cigarette use frequency in a novel national sample. Methods: Data were from 36,277 US adults interviewed between 2012 and 2013 for the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III). Sociodemographic characteristics, other tobacco/drug use, and psychiatric disorders were compared by e-cigarette use status (i.e. current [past-month], past, never) and e-cigarette use frequency (i.e. infrequent [≤3 days/month], moderate [1–6 days/week], daily). Multinomial logistic regression models compared correlates of e-cigarette use status and e-cigarette use frequency. Results: Current e-cigarette use was low in adults (1.4%) and past e-cigarette use was 3.9%. Among current e-cigarette users, 38.1% were infrequent users, 32.9% were moderate users, and 29.0% were daily users. Compared to infrequent e-cigarette users, daily users were more likely to be male and older, but less likely to be current cigarette smokers and alcohol drinkers (p’s < .05). Compared to daily e-cigarette users, moderate users were more likely be female, current cigarette smokers, and fall into the 25–34 age group (p’s < .05). Moderate and daily e-cigarette users had higher prevalence of current extra-medical opioid use than infrequent users (p’s < .05). Conclusions/Importance: E-cigarette users were most often infrequent users versus moderate or daily users. Compared to infrequent and moderate users, daily e-cigarette users were less likely to be current alcohol drinkers or cigarette smokers. Novel findings highlight a correlation between more frequent e-cigarette and opioid use.

Keywords:

• Electronic cigarettes
• frequency
• United States
• epidemiology
• opioids

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), grant number U54DA036114; and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant number R03CA212694. This manuscript was prepared using a limited access dataset obtained from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH, FDA, NIAAA, or the US Government.