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Are e-cigarettes causing an epidemic of youth nicotine addiction?
Thread summarising results from our new paper in @AddictionJrnl
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.15403
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Thread summarising results from our new paper in @AddictionJrnl
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.15403
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The US has seen a marked increase in the prevalence of youth use of tobacco products*, which has provided cause for concern.
*Including e-cigs, which do not contain tobacco, but are categorised as tobacco products in the US for FDA regulation.
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*Including e-cigs, which do not contain tobacco, but are categorised as tobacco products in the US for FDA regulation.
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However, this rise in prevalence has been accompanied by a shift in the pattern of product use, with a decline in cigarette smoking and an increase in e-cig use.
Whether the overall increase in product use has been mirrored by an increase in nicotine dependence was unclear.
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Whether the overall increase in product use has been mirrored by an increase in nicotine dependence was unclear.
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In ~87,000 high school students surveyed between 2012 and 2019, we looked at markers of dependence (strong cravings in past 30 days and wanting to use nicotine products within 30 mins of waking) in relation to tobacco product use.
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Between 2012 & 2019, patterns of tobacco product use changed substantially among high school students. Use of e-cigarettes increased dramatically, use of cigarettes declined, and use of combustible (non-cigarette) and smokeless tobacco was relatively stable.
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We found that different tobacco products were associated with differing levels of nicotine dependence, with cigarettes characterised by highest dependence and e-cigarettes in otherwise tobacco-naïve students by low dependence.
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The increase in population use of tobacco products between 2012 and 2019 (from 23.2% to 31.2%) was not accompanied by an equivalent increase in overall population burden of dependence (craving: 10.9% to 9.5%; wanting to use within 30min: 4.7% to 5.4%).
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Take home message:
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