Awareness, Trial, and Current Use of Electronic Cigarettes in 10 Countries: Findings from the ITC Project

Shannon Gravely, Geoffrey T. Fong, K. Michael Cummings, Mi Yan, Anne C. K. Quah, Ron Borland, Hua-Hie Yong, Sara C. Hitchman, Ann McNeill, David Hammond, James F. Thrasher, Marc C. Willemsen, Hong Gwan Seo, Yuan Jiang, Tania Cavalcante, Cristina Perez, Maizurah Omar and Karin Hummel
Additional contact information
Shannon Gravely: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
Geoffrey T. Fong: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
K. Michael Cummings: Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
Mi Yan: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
Anne C. K. Quah: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
Ron Borland: The Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
Hua-Hie Yong: The Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
Sara C. Hitchman: King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK
Ann McNeill: King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK
David Hammond: School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
James F. Thrasher: Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Colombia, SC 29208, USA
Marc C. Willemsen: Maastricht University (CAPHRI), P. Debyeplein 1, 6229 HA Maastricht, the Netherlands
Hong Gwan Seo: National Cancer Center of Korea, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si Gyeonggi-do, 410-769, Korea
Yuan Jiang: China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road Changping District, Beijing 102206, China
Tania Cavalcante: National Cancer Institute of Brazil, Praca Cruz Vermelha, 23, Centro, 20230-130, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cristina Perez: National Cancer Institute of Brazil, Praca Cruz Vermelha, 23, Centro, 20230-130, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Maizurah Omar: University Sains Malaysia, Jalan Sungai Dua, 11800 Georgetown, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Karin Hummel: Maastricht University (CAPHRI), P. Debyeplein 1, 6229 HA Maastricht, the Netherlands

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-14

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: 35%), 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%), Mexico (4%), Canada (4%), Brazil (3%), 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%)). 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.

Keywords: e-cigarette; electronic cigarette; nicotine; smoking; international (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/11/11691/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/11/11691/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:11:p:11691-11704:d:42248

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().