Prevalence of Electronic Cigarette Use and Its Determinants among 13-to-15-Year-Old Students in Greece: Results from the 2013 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)

Soteris Soteriades, Anastasia Barbouni, George Rachiotis, Panoraia Grevenitou, Varvara Mouchtouri, Ourania Pinaka, Katerina Dadouli and Christos Hadjichristodoulou
Additional contact information
Soteris Soteriades: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece
Anastasia Barbouni: Department of Public Health, University of West Attica, 196 Alexandras Ave., 11521 Athens, Greece
George Rachiotis: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece
Panoraia Grevenitou: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece
Varvara Mouchtouri: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece
Ourania Pinaka: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece
Katerina Dadouli: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece
Christos Hadjichristodoulou: Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Katsigra Building, 22 Papakyriazi St., 41222 Larissa, Greece

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Electronic cigarette use has increased over the past decade. Its potential role in smoking cessation, in addiction and as a ‘gateway’ to tobacco smoking is subject to intense research. This cross-sectional study, carried out in 2013, aims to present the habits of students aged 13–15 in Greece with regard to e-cigarettes and investigate potential risk factors and the relationship between e-cigarettes, tobacco smoking and other nicotine products. It is the first such study to be carried out in Greece. The survey was based on the standardized methodology of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey. All potential associations were investigated using multiple logistic regression. In total 2.8% of the 4096 participating students were current e-cigarette users and 12.3% of them were ever users. E-cigarette use was associated with male gender, being older, current use of combustible tobacco products and e-cigarette use in the family. Ever e-cigarette use, being older, female gender and higher pocket money were associated with an increased susceptibility to tobacco smoking. E-cigarette prevalence in Greece in 2013 was similar to that of other, developed countries. The smoking and vaping habits of adolescents must be monitored in order to assess trends over time and whether any policy alterations are necessary.

Keywords: adolescents; tobacco smoking; vaping; e-cigarette; nicotine; gateway; susceptibility; prevalence; GYTS; Greece (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/5/1671/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/5/1671/ (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:17:y:2020:i:5:p:1671-:d:328312

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 ().