Will Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) use reduce smoking disparities? Prevalence of daily ENDS use among cigarette smokers

Many smokers reported using Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS, e.g., electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes) to quit cigarette smoking. Previous studies suggested that daily ENDS use may promote cigarette smoking cessation. We assessed variations in the prevalence of daily ENDS use among adult smokers by demographics and implications for cigarette smoking disparities. Data were from a nationally representative sample of US adults who participated in the 2014–2015 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (n = 163,920). Participants reported socio-demographics, current cigarette smoking, current ENDS use, and past-year cigarette smoking cessation attempts. We estimated the prevalence of current cigarette smoking in the full sample by socio-demographics. We also estimated the prevalence of daily ENDS use among current smokers (n = 23,232) and those who attempted to quit smoking in the past year (n = 9,341) by socio-demographics. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess associations between daily ENDS use and socio-demographics. Prevalence of daily ENDS use was low: 1–6% among current smokers and 2–9% among those who made a past-year quit attempt, across socio-demographics. Hispanic (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.29–0.69) and non-Hispanic black smokers (AOR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.23–0.61) were less likely than non-Hispanic white smokers to use ENDS daily. Similar associations were observed among current smokers who made a past-year quit attempt (p < 0.05). Low prevalence of daily ENDS use suggests that ENDS may only promote smoking cessation in a small fraction of smokers. Lower prevalence of daily ENDS use among non-Hispanic black smokers may worsen race-related cigarette smoking disparities.