Acceptability of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) among HIV positive smokers

ABSTRACT

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) have the potential to help smokers living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to reduce harms from tobacco use. However, little is known about ENDS use among PLWHA. This study’s aim was to evaluate the acceptability of two types of ENDS among PLWHA not planning to quit smoking. The study utilized a cross-over design where participants used two ENDS in a random order as smoking substitutes during two use periods separated by 7 days. Exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) was analyzed and participants reported daily cigarette and ENDS use and completed ratings on ENDS acceptability. Participants (n = 17) were a mean age of 49.1 years (SD = 8.8), were 53% white, and 59% male. All participants had controlled HIV disease status. Participants smoked a mean of 16.9 (SD = 7.9) CPD at baseline. Overall, CPD significantly decreased during both ENDS use periods (p < .01) but there were no differences in reduction between the different devices. CO decreased from baseline to follow-up only during the button-activated ENDS use period (p = .03), but there were no differences between ENDS devices. There were no significant differences in ratings of acceptability between ENDS devices. These results suggest that ENDS could be a harm reduction tool for smokers with HIV.

KEYWORDS:

• Electronic cigarettes
• HIV
• tobacco use

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P50DA036107 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. JY is also funded by the Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI) and TE is also supported by U54DA036105. 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.