Use of and Beliefs toward Novel Tobacco and Nicotine Products among Portuguese University Students: A Pandemic Survey

Marina Vaz, Pedro Cascais and Olga Lourenço ()
Additional contact information
Marina Vaz: FCS-UBI, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Avenida Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal
Pedro Cascais: FCS-UBI, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Avenida Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal
Olga Lourenço: FCS-UBI, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Avenida Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Over the last decade, novel tobacco and nicotine product experimentation and use have dramatically increased among the youth, even in countries with strong tobacco control and anti-smoking social norms. We performed an online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study in March-June 2021, targeting students from the University of Beira Interior, Portugal. The aim was to assess the experimentation and use of tobacco and nicotine products and students’ beliefs towards these products. Of the 452 participants, 67.0% were female; the mean age was 21.9 ± 3 years. Most students (60.4%) reported experimenting with tobacco/nicotine products; 31.2% were current users; polyconsumption was common. Of the current users, all used cigarettes, 41.1% used heated tobacco, 20.6% e-cigarettes, and 14.9% used water pipes. Our multivariate analysis showed that being male, being in the third year of study, and cohabiting or socializing with smokers were strongly associated with tobacco/nicotine use. While most students agree that heated tobacco and e-cigarettes are addictive, that they are not less harmful than cigarettes, and that second-hand exposure may cause health problems, few tobacco/nicotine users are ready to quit, and few students support a smoke-free university campus. These findings indicate high experimentation and the regular dual use of novel tobacco and nicotine products and suggest a pro-smoking social norm among university students.

Keywords: electronic cigarette; heated tobacco; nicotine; tobacco; university students; water pipe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/478/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/478/ (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:21:y:2024:i:4:p:478-:d:1375554

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 ().