Is E-cigarette Use Associated with Persistence or Discontinuation of Combustible Cigarettes? A 24-mo
Friday, July 15, 2022
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Martinez-Loredo
V, González-Roz A, Dawkins L, Singh D, Murphy JG, MacKillop J.
Is E-cigarette Use
Associated with Persistence or Discontinuation of Combustible Cigarettes? A
24-month Longitudinal Investigation in Young Adult Binge Drinkers.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2022;24(7):962-969. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntac049
Introduction. It
remains unclear whether electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use promotes
persistent combustible tobacco use or smoking discontinuation over time.
Alcohol use is associated with a greater risk of adverse health effects of
tobacco, and higher likelihood of e-cigarette use, making drinkers a
high-priority subpopulation.
Aims and methods. This
study examined longitudinal patterns of combustible tobacco and e-cigarette use
over 24 months in young adult binge drinkers. A pooled dataset of 1002 (58.5%
female; M age = 22.14) binge drinkers from the United States (60%) and Canada
(40%) was used. The primary outcomes were past month combustible tobacco and
e-cigarette use. Nicotine dependence was measured using the Fagerström Test of
Cigarette Dependence. Alcohol severity was measured using the Young Adult
Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used
to identify patterns of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use over 24 months.
Results. The
LTA yielded a four-class solution: (1) e-cigarettes-only users (prevalence over
time: 7.75%-10.10%), (2) dual-product users (2.61%-9.89%), (3) combustible-only
smokers (8.12%-20.70%), and (4) nonusers (61.66%-80.06%). Dual-product users
predominantly transitioned to complete abstinence or exclusively e-cigarette
use. In combustible-only smokers, the most common transition was to abstinence,
followed by persistence of combustible-only status. At 24 months, 63% of
e-cigarettes-only users transitioned to abstinence, with 37% continuing
e-cigarettes-only use and 0% transitioning to dual or combustible cigarette
use.
Conclusions. Dual-product
use in young adult binge drinkers was associated with discontinuation of
combustible tobacco over time, and e-cigarette-only use was not associated with
subsequent combustible tobacco use.
Implications. These
findings suggest that concurrent or exclusive e-cigarette use is not a risk
factor for the persistence or development of combustible tobacco use in this
subpopulation, with dual-product use reflecting a transitional pattern away
from combustible use, toward discontinuation.
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