Awareness, trial, and current use of electronic cigarettes in 10 countries: Findings from the ITC project

Shannon Gravely¹, Geoffrey T Fong², K Michael Cummings³, Mi Yan⁴, Anne C K Quah⁵, Ron Borland⁶, Hua-Hie Yong⁷, Sara C Hitchman⁸, Ann McNeill⁹, David Hammond¹⁰, James F Thrasher¹¹, Marc C Willemsen¹², Hong Gwan Seo¹³, Yuan Jiang¹⁴, Tania Cavalcante¹⁵, Cristina Perez¹⁶, Maizurah Omar¹⁷, Karin Hummel¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. shannon.gravely@uwaterloo.ca.
² Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. gfong@uwaterloo.ca.
³ Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. cummingk@musc.edu.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. m6yan@uwaterloo.ca.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. ackquah@uwaterloo.ca.
⁶ The Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. Ron.Borland@cancervic.org.au.
⁷ The Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. Hua.Yong@cancervic.org.au.
⁸ King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK. sara.hitchman@kcl.ac.uk.
⁹ King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK. ann.mcneill@kcl.ac.uk.
¹⁰ School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. dhammond@uwaterloo.ca.
¹¹ Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Colombia, SC 29208, USA. thrasher@mailbox.sc.edu.
¹² Maastricht University (CAPHRI), P. Debyeplein 1, 6229 HA Maastricht, the Netherlands. marc.willemsen@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
¹³ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. hongwan@ncc.re.kr.
¹⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. jiangyuan88@vip.sina.com.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. taniac@inca.gov.br.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. cperez@inca.gov.br.
¹⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. cummingk@musc.edu.
¹⁸ Maastricht University (CAPHRI), P. Debyeplein 1, 6229 HA Maastricht, the Netherlands. Karin.hummel@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

PMID: 25421063
PMCID: PMC4245638
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph111111691

Awareness, trial, and current use of electronic cigarettes in 10 countries: Findings from the ITC project

Shannon Gravely et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014.

. 2014 Nov 13;11(11):11691-704.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph111111691.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. shannon.gravely@uwaterloo.ca.
² Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. gfong@uwaterloo.ca.
³ Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. cummingk@musc.edu.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. m6yan@uwaterloo.ca.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. ackquah@uwaterloo.ca.
⁶ The Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. Ron.Borland@cancervic.org.au.
⁷ The Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. Hua.Yong@cancervic.org.au.
⁸ King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK. sara.hitchman@kcl.ac.uk.
⁹ King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK. ann.mcneill@kcl.ac.uk.
¹⁰ School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. dhammond@uwaterloo.ca.
¹¹ Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Colombia, SC 29208, USA. thrasher@mailbox.sc.edu.
¹² Maastricht University (CAPHRI), P. Debyeplein 1, 6229 HA Maastricht, the Netherlands. marc.willemsen@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
¹³ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. hongwan@ncc.re.kr.
¹⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. jiangyuan88@vip.sina.com.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. taniac@inca.gov.br.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. cperez@inca.gov.br.
¹⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. cummingk@musc.edu.
¹⁸ Maastricht University (CAPHRI), P. Debyeplein 1, 6229 HA Maastricht, the Netherlands. Karin.hummel@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

PMID: 25421063
PMCID: PMC4245638
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph111111691

Erratum in

Correction: Gravely, S., et al. Awareness, Trial, and Current Use of Electronic Cigarettes in 10 Countries: Findings from the ITC Project. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11, 11691-11704.
Gravely S, Fong GT, Cummings KM, Yan M, Quah AC, Borland R, Yong HH, Hitchman SC, McNeill A, Hammond D, Thrasher JF, Willemsen MC, Seo HG, Jiang Y, Cavalcante T, Perez C, Omar M, Hummel K. Gravely S, et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Apr 27;12(5):4631-7. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120504631. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015. PMID: 25922990 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Background: In recent years, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have generated considerable interest and debate on the implications for tobacco control and public health. Although the rapid growth of e-cigarettes is global, at present, little is known about awareness and use. This paper presents self-reported awareness, trial and current use of e-cigarettes in 10 countries surveyed between 2009 and 2013; for six of these countries, we present the first data on e-cigarettes from probability samples of adult smokers.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of probability samples of adult (≥ 18 years) current and former smokers participating in the International Tobacco Control (ITC) surveys from 10 countries. Surveys were administered either via phone, face-to-face interviews, or the web. Survey questions included sociodemographic and smoking-related variables, and questions about e-cigarette awareness, trial and current use.

Results: There was considerable cross-country variation by year of data collection and for awareness of e-cigarettes (Netherlands (2013: 88%), Republic of Korea (2010: 79%), United States (2010: 73%), Australia (2013: 66%), Malaysia (2011: 62%), United Kingdom (2010: 54%), Canada (2010: 40%), Brazil (2013: 37%), Mexico (2012: 34%), and China (2009: 31%)), in self-reports of ever having tried e-cigarettes (Australia, (20%), Malaysia (19%), Netherlands (18%), United States (15%), Republic of Korea (11%), United Kingdom (10%), Brazil (8%), Mexico (4%), Canada (4%), and China (2%)), and in current use (Malaysia (14%), Republic of Korea (7%), Australia (7%), United States (6%), United Kingdom (4%), Netherlands (3%), Canada (1%), and China (0.05%)) [corrected].

Conclusions: The cross-country variability in awareness, trial, and current use of e-cigarettes is likely due to a confluence of country-specific market factors, tobacco control policies and regulations (e.g., the legal status of e-cigarettes and nicotine), and the survey timing along the trajectory of e-cigarette awareness and trial/use in each country. These ITC results constitute an important snapshot of an early stage of what appears to be a rapid progression of global e-cigarette use.

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References

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Awareness, trial, and current use of electronic cigarettes in 10 countries: Findings from the ITC project

Affiliations

Awareness, trial, and current use of electronic cigarettes in 10 countries: Findings from the ITC project

Authors

Affiliations

Erratum in

Abstract

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Medical