Electronic Cigarette Use Among Korean Adolescents
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
J Adolesc Health. 2013 Nov 22. pii: S1054-139X(13)00748-9. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.11.003. [Epub ahead of print]
Lee S, Grana RA, Glantz SA.
In South Korea electronic cigarettes
(e-cigarettes) are marketed, in part, as a smoking cessation aid. We assessed
the prevalence of e-cigarette use among Korean adolescents and the relationship
between e-cigarette use and current (past 30-day) smoking, cigarettes/day,
attempts to quit conventional cigarettes, and ceasing to use cigarettes. Data
from the 2011 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey of 75,643 students
aged 13-18years were analyzed with logistic regression. A total of 9.4% (8.0% ever-dual users who
were concurrently using e-cigarettes and smoking conventional cigarettes and
1.4% ever-e-cigarette only users) of Korean adolescents have ever used
e-cigarettes and 4.7% were current (past 30-day) e-cigarette users (3.6% dual
users and 1.1% e-cigarettes only). After adjusting for demographics, current
cigarette smokers were much more likely to use e-cigarettes than were
nonsmokers. Among current cigarette smokers, those who smoked more frequently
were more likely to be current e-cigarette users. The odds of being an
e-cigarette user were 1.58 times (95% confidence interval, 1.39-1.79) higher
among students who had made an attempt to quit than for those who had not. It
was rare for students no longer using cigarettes to be among current e-cigarette
users (odds ratio, .10; confidence interval, .09-.12). Some Korean adolescents
may be responding to advertising claims that e-cigarettes are a cessation aid:
those who had made an attempt to quit were more likely to use e-cigarettes but
less likely to no longer use cigarettes. E-cigarette use was strongly
associated with current and heavier cigarette smoking.
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