Electronic cigarette initiation and correlates of use among never, former, and current tobacco cigarette smoking college students

Abstract

Introduction. Electronic cigarette use is increasing rapidly. College students are one of the most at-risk populations for e-cigarette use, and yet this population is virtually unstudied. Method. College students from a large Midwestern university completed an online survey regarding the use of electronic cigarettes. Descriptive and binomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to describe users of e-cigarettes and to identify factors associated with use. Smoking status subgroups were compared.Results. In total, 9,395 students completed the survey. Respondents were asked if they had ever used an e-cigarette. Of the 9,077 responding, 27.9% reported ever using an e-cigarette. Most e-cigarette users were also current tobacco smokers (71.9%); lifetime e-cigarette use was reported by 45.0% of former tobacco smokers and 13.9% of never tobacco smokers. Predictors of e-cigarette use included younger age, male gender, White race, and Greek affiliation, but varied based on smoker status.Discussion. E-cigarette use among college students appears to be relatively prevalent and increasing. While individual user characteristics may be important considerations for planning prevention and intervention programming, smoker status should also be considered, given that predictors of e-cigarette use vary depending on smoker status.

Keywords:

• Electronic cigarettes
• e-cigarettes
• vaping