Electronic Cigarettes (E-Cigs)

Table 1.  Characteristics of experienced e-cigarette users and comparison between those who have used for greater than and less than 1 year

Characteristic (n)	Total sample (n = 104)	Use e-cig < 1 year (n = 48)‡	Use e-cig ≥ 1 year (n = 56)	p-value*
% Male (103)	74	72	75	0.760
% White (104)	88	90	86	0.552
% with college degree (102)	40	38	42	0.718
Mean Age (104)	34 ± 8.8	33 ± 8	34 ± 9	0.451
% employed full-time (102)	77	69	83	0.083
% making > 10% income from e-cig business (104)	13	4	20	0.017
Median days since last tobacco product use (102)	150 (0–1234)	90 (0–556)	365 (0–1234)	< 0.0001
% currently use smoked tobacco (104)	12	13	11	0.776
% who have not used tobacco in past the 30 days (102)	78	75	82	0.368
% whose last tobacco product was a cigarette (103)	95	98	93	0.238
Mean years used tobacco (102)	16 ± 10	16 ± 9	17 ± 10	0.521
Mean cigarettes per day (103)	25 ± 13	24 ± 11	26 ± 15	0.086
Time to first smoke of day, in minutes (100)	24 ± 47	18 ± 22	30 ± 61	0.202
Time to first use of e-cig, in minutes (101)	38 ± 38	33 ± 36	42 ± 40	0.238
% woke at night to smoke (104)	49	56	43	0.173
Mean number of quit attempts (91)	9 ± 16	9 ± 16	10 ± 15	0.843
% saying 'extremely important' to stay off tobacco (104)	90	88	93	0.356
% saying 'extremely confident' they can succeed in staying off tobacco (104)	93	94	93	0.856
% previously used an FDA-approved smoking cessation medication (104)	65	67	64	0.799
% previously tried ≥ 2 FDA-approved smoking cessation medications (104)	54	54	54	0.952
% tried to quit 'cold turkey' (104)	73	67	79	0.172
% tried to quit by using smokeless tobacco (104)	21	27	16	0.170
% using an e-cig ≥ 20 days out of the past 28 (103)	89	92	88	0.514
Mean length of e-cig use in months (104)	13 ± 9	5 ± 3	20 ± 7	< 0.0001
% use e-cig liquid > 12 mg concentration (102)	66	83	51	0.001
% who believe they get more or the same amount of nicotine from an e-cig (102)	58	67	50	0.089
% who agree with the following reasons for personal use of e-cig rather than a regular cigarette (104)
I believe the e-cig is less harmful to others	80	73	86	0.105
I believe it is less harmful to my health	98	100	96	0.186
I prefer the taste	80	71	88	0.035
I can use an e-cig in places where smoking is banned	64	67	63	0.658
% have a preferred type of e-cig (104)	79	75	82	0.374
% who believe they inhale e-cig less deeply than cigarettes (44)	34	40	29	0.450
% who believe they use e-cig the same or more frequently than cigarettes (83)	35	45	26	0.064
Median times e-cig used per day (82)	20 (2–60)†	20 (2–60)	20 (2–60)	0.588
% who are able to use an e-cig in places where smoking is banned (104)	90	92	89	0.681
% who started e-cig use with the intention of quitting tobacco soon (103)	73	75	71	0.730
% who believe e-cig helped them quit smoking (102)	99	98	100	0.277
% who plan to continue using e-cig for at least another year (103)	89	94	86	0.174
Median cost of current e-cig in US $ (94)	70 (8–235)	61 (8–235)	80 (20–180)	0.042
Mean weekly cost to maintain vaping, US $ (93)	13 ± 10	12 ± 6	13 ± 12	0.455

Means are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. Medians are expressed as the median (range). *Differences between means were evaluated by two sample t-tests; proportions were evaluated by chi-square tests; differences between the medians were evaluated with Mann–Whitney test. †Does not include 23 individuals who reported they used their e-cig a 'countless' number or '100 s' of times per day. Respondents who reported using their e-cig more than 60 times per day were coded as 60. ‡The total n for each group varies depending on number who responded to each individual question.

Table 2.  E-cigarette model use for those who have used an e-cig for less than 1 year and for those who have used for 1 year or more*

Model of e-cig (n)	Total sample (n = 98)	Use e-cig < 1 year (n = 45)	Use e-cig ≥ 1 year (n = 53)
% who use a modified battery housing PV (3.7/6 v) (e.g. Omega, Silver Bullet, Helix) (38)	39	20	55†
% who use a 5 v regulated battery modification PV (e.g. Triple V, Tekk Mod) (6)	6	9	4
% who use a variable voltage modification PV (e.g. Provari, Eclipse) (6)	6	7	6
% who use a large/long-life proprietary battery PV (e.g. eGo, Joye, Riva) (37)	38	53	24
% who use a standard 3.7 v e-cig (e.g. NJoy, Magma) (8)	8	9	7
% who use a multiple voltage battery compatible modified PV (3.7/5/6/7.4) (e.g. Megalodon) (3)	3	2	4

*PV, personal vaporizer. †Significantly more long-term e-cig users than short-term using modified battery housing PVs (p = 0.001).

Authors and Disclosures

J. Foulds, S. Veldheer and A. Berg

Pennsylvania State University, College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA

Correspondence to
J. Foulds, Professor of Public Health Sciences & Psychiatry, Penn State University, College of Medicine, Cancer Institute, Cancer Control Program. T3428, CH69, 500 University Drive, P.O. Box 850 Hershey, PA 17033-0850, USA Tel.: + 1 717 531 3504 Fax: + 1 717 531 0480 Email: jfoulds@psu.edu

Disclosures
None of the authors have any financial connections with the tobacco or electronic cigarette industries. JF has worked as a paid consultant for companies involved in the production of pharmaceutical products as aids to smoking cessation (e.g. Cypress Bioscience, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer).

Sidebar

What's Known

The popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) is increasing rapidly. They deliver a vapour of propylene glycol and nicotine, without any smoke.

What's New

Some e-cig users are continuing to use e-cigs long term, primarily as a way of ending their tobacco use. These experienced e-cig users tend to use e-cigs that are larger than the mass-marketed cigarette-size e-cigs. Rather, they use e-cigs that are designed to provide more intense vapour via stronger battery power.