Views of experienced electronic cigarette users

Abstract

Background: Awareness and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) has increased significantly in the past five years, but little is known about the experiences, satisfaction, opinions and preferences of e-cigs users. Method: 1177 participants completed an online survey about their electronic cigarette preferences, of which 200 were randomly selected for analysis. The data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Results: Participants found the design, the ability to customize, and the quality of vapour to be the most important characteristics of the device. Participants thought the most positive aspects of e-cig use were help to quit smoking, improved overall health, and reduced cost. The negative aspects associated with its use were mainly related to side effects, such as dry mouth. When asked to explain how e-cigs were used differently than cigarettes, participants reported puffing more regularly, but taking fewer puffs per session. Conclusions: Experienced e-cig users stated that initiating e-cig use helped them to quit or reduce their conventional smoking, which they believe reduced their health risks. In comparison to cigarette smoking, e-cig users reported using their e-cig more times per day, but with fewer puffs at each use time. Users acknowledged that more research is needed to understand the safety and long-term effects of its use. They mentioned dry mouth as a common side effect and common problems with reliability of e-cigs. Understanding these views may help health professionals to assess and assist e-cig users, and in the future, may help regulators to improve quality and reduce risks.

Keywords:

• Electronic cigarette
• experience
• survey
• smoking
• public health
• dependence

Declaration of interest

JF has done paid consulting for pharmaceutical companies involved in producing smoking cessation medications including GSK, Pfizer, Novartis, J&J, and Cypress Bioscience.

This work was supported by an internal grant from Penn State Clinical Translational Science Institute (supported by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1 TR000127), Social Science Research Institute, & Cancer Institute (PI: SW). JF, SV, JY & SH are primarily funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (under Award Numbers P50-DA- 036107-01, P50-DA-036105). TE is supported by the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P50DA036105. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Food and Drug Administration.