Young People’s Use of E-Cigarettes across the United Kingdom: Findings from Five Surveys 2015–2017

Linda Bauld, Anne Marie MacKintosh, Brian Eastwood, Allison Ford, Graham Moore, Martin Dockrell, Deborah Arnott, Hazel Cheeseman and Ann McNeill
Additional contact information
Linda Bauld: Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Anne Marie MacKintosh: Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Brian Eastwood: Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco Division, Health Improvement Directorate, Public Health England, Skipton House, 80 London Road, London SE1 6LH, UK
Allison Ford: Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Graham Moore: Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, 1-3 Museum Place, Cardiff CF10 3BD, UK
Martin Dockrell: Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco Division, Health Improvement Directorate, Public Health England, Skipton House, 80 London Road, London SE1 6LH, UK
Deborah Arnott: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH); 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY, UK
Hazel Cheeseman: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH); 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY, UK
Ann McNeill: UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Concern has been expressed about the use of e-cigarettes among young people. Our study reported e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette ever and regular use among 11–16 year olds across the UK. Data came from five large scale surveys with different designs and sampling strategies conducted between 2015 and 2017: The Youth Tobacco Policy Survey; the Schools Health Research Network Wales survey; two Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Smokefree Great Britain-Youth Surveys; and the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey. Cumulatively these surveys collected data from over 60,000 young people. For 2015/16 data for 11–16 year olds: ever smoking ranged from 11% to 20%; regular (at least weekly) smoking between 1% and 4%; ever use of e-cigarettes 7% to 18%; regular (at least weekly) use 1% to 3%; among never smokers, ever e-cigarette use ranged from 4% to 10% with regular use between 0.1% and 0.5%; among regular smokers, ever e-cigarette use ranged from 67% to 92% and regular use 7% to 38%. ASH surveys showed a rise in the prevalence of ever use of e-cigarettes from 7% (2016) to 11% (2017) but prevalence of regular use did not change remaining at 1%. In summary, surveys across the UK show a consistent pattern: most e-cigarette experimentation does not turn into regular use, and levels of regular use in young people who have never smoked remain very low.

Keywords: smoking; tobacco; e-cigarettes; youth; prevalence; surveys (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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