Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Nov 5;14(11):1345.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph14111345.

Electronic Cigarette Use in Students and Its Relation with Tobacco-Smoking: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the i-Share Study

Shérazade Kinouani  1   2 , Edwige Pereira  3 , Christophe Tzourio  4
Affiliations

Electronic Cigarette Use in Students and Its Relation with Tobacco-Smoking: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the i-Share Study

Shérazade Kinouani et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

While young adults often try e-cigarettes, little is known about its use and the reasons for experimentation, particularly in relation with tobacco-smoking. In 2016, data were collected from 2720 French-speaking students participating in a web-based study on students' health: the internet-based Students Health Research Enterprise (i-Share) project. Univariate analyses and multivariable logistic regressions were performed to study the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking status. Two out of five students declared having tried e-cigarettes and 3.6% were current users. Former smokers were more likely than current smokers to use e-cigarettes currently. Among those who had never smoked, 13.5% had tried e-cigarettes. Very few (0.3%) were current users, alternating e-liquids with and without nicotine. The three main reasons for trying e-cigarettes were curiosity, offer to try by someone, and attractiveness of e-liquid flavors. Among current smokers, previous attempts to quit smoking and a strong desire to stop tobacco were reported more in e-cigarette current users than in former users. In this large sample of French students, findings were consistent with the possibility that e-cigarettes might be used as smoking cessation or reduction aids by some young adults whereas other young never-smokers could be exposed to nicotine.

Keywords: electronic cigarettes; smoking; young adult.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsor had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart. CDS-5: 5-item Cigarette Dependence Scale.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reasons for trying e-cigarette (overall and according to smoking status) among students who had tried it. Missing data on smoking status, n = 1. Smoking status: current smokers were those smoking occasionally (less than once a day) or daily at time of survey. Former smokers were those who did not smoke at time of study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gravely S., Fong G.T., Cummings K.M., Yan M., Quah A.C.K., Borland R., Yong H.H., Hitchman S.C., McNeill A., Hammond D., 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. doi: 10.3390/ijerph111111691. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adkison S.E., O’Connor R.J., Bansal-Travers M., Hyland A., Borland R., Yong H.H., Cummings K.M., McNeill A., Thrasher J.F., Hammond D., et al. Electronic nicotine delivery systems: International tobacco control four-country survey. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2013;44:207–215. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.10.018. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hummel K., Hoving C., Nagelhout G.E., de Vries H., van den Putte B., Candel M.J.J.M., Borland R., Willemsen M.C. Prevalence and reasons for use of electronic cigarettes among smokers: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Netherlands Survey. Int. J. Drug Policy. 2015;26:601–608. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.12.009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ayers J.W., Althouse B.M., Allem J.P., Leas E.C., Dredze M., Williams R.S. Revisiting the rise of electronic nicotine delivery systems using search query surveillance. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2016;50:e173–e181. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.12.008. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dockrell M., Morrison R., Bauld L., McNeill A. E-cigarettes: Prevalence and attitudes in Great Britain. Nicotine Tob. Res. 2013;15:1737–1744. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntt057. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances

LinkOut - more resources