Changes in the National Prevalence of Current E-Cigarette, Cannabis, and Dual Use among Reproductive Age Women (18–44 Years Old) in the United States, 2013–2016

Abstract

Background: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) and cannabis (marijuana) use is rapidly increasing. Objectives: To report percentage prevalence and changes over time in current (past 30 days) e-cigarette, cannabis, and dual (concurrent) use in the population of reproductive age women (18–44 years old) in the United States. Methods: Our cross-sectional analysis involved data of 11, 004 women from Waves 1 to 3 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study (2013–2016). We estimated weighted percentage prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and changes between 2013 and 2016 in current e-cigarette, cannabis, and dual use at each wave overall and across race/ethnicity, age, education, cigarette smoking status, alcohol use, and perceived mental health. Changes were reported as p for trend. Results: Between 2013 and 2016, e-cigarette use increased 13.6% (p for trend <.001) [15.2% (95% CI:14.2, 16.2) in 2013–2014; 22.2% (95% CI: 20.2, 24.3) in 2014–2015; and 28.8% (95% CI: 26.3, 31.3) in 2015–2016]; cannabis use increased 6.2% (p for trend <.001) [23.6% (95% CI: 22.1, 25.1) in 2013–2014; 28.5% (95% CI: 26.0, 31.0) in 2014–2015; and 29.8% (95% CI: 27.9, 31.1) in 2015–2016]; and dual use declined 0.3% (p for trend <.001) [5.8% (95% CI: 5.2, 6.3) in 2013–2014; 4.8% (95% CI: 3.7, 5.8) in 2014–2015; and 5.5% (95% CI: 4.2, 6.7) in 2015–2016]. Increases and declines in prevalence varied across sociodemographic characteristics, cigarette smoking status, alcohol use, and perceived mental health. Conclusions: Continued monitoring can capture further changes in prevalence and patterns to inform targeted public health intervention programs.

Keywords:

• Current e-cigarette use
• current cannabis use
• current dual use
• changes in national prevalence
• reproductive age women

Acknowledgment

Authors wish to thank the Editor- in-Chief, the Associate/Handling Editor, and anonymous reviewers for constructive suggestions to improve the quality of our original manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article and report no conflict of interest.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Data availability statement