E-cigarette use linked to cigarette initiation in adolescents

(HealthDay)—Electronic cigarette use is associated with an increased risk for cigarette initiation and use in adolescents, according to a study published online Feb. 1 in JAMA Network Open.

Kaitlyn M. Berry, M.P.H., from the Boston University School of Public Health, and colleagues examined data from waves 1 to 3 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (2013 to 2016) for 6,123 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years who had never used cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or other tobacco products at wave 1.

The researchers found that at wave 3, cigarette use was higher among previous e-cigarette users versus adolescents with no prior tobacco use (20.5 versus 3.8 percent). Compared with no prior tobacco use, prior e-cigarette use correlated with significantly increased odds of ever cigarette use and current cigarette use (odds ratios, 4.09 and 2.75, respectively); the odds were similarly increased with prior use of other tobacco products (odds ratios, 3.84 and 3.43, respectively). Low-risk adolescents had a stronger association of prior e-cigarette use with cigarette initiation (odds ratio, 8.57). Among youth aged 12 to 15 years, from 2013-2014 to 2015-2016, 21.8 and 15.3 percent of new cigarette ever use and current cigarette use, respectively, may be attributable to prior e-cigarette use, according to the researchers.

"These findings strengthen the rationale for aggressive regulation of youth access to and marketing of e-cigarettes to achieve future decreases in the prevalence of cigarette use among youths," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to Johnson & Johnson.

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