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Taiwan: E-Cig Use Associated With Quit Attempts Amongst Teen Smokers

A study analyzing the relationship between electronic cigarette use and attempts to quit smoking cigarettes by adolescent smokers in Taiwan, found a positive association between these two factors.

Diane Caruana

November 23, 2018

The study titled, “Electronic Cigarette Use and Attempts to Quit Smoking Cigarettes Among Adolescents in Taiwan.”, was published in NCBI last month. Data was collected from the cross-sectional Taiwan Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted annually between 2014 and 2016, which included adolescents aged between 12 and 18.

A US study had shown that current e-cigarette use in the States, was not only associated with higher quit attempts but also with greater smoking cessation success.

The researchers looked at e-cigarette use in the last 30 days, and compared it with attempts to quit smoking cigarettes during the previous 12 months. The results indicated that e-cigarette users were more likely to attempt quitting.

“Current e-cigarette use (OR = 1.21) was positively associated with attempts to quit cigarette smoking. Smokers who observed anti-tobacco media messages (OR = 1.12), attended anti-smoking classes (OR = 1.17), were influenced by warnings on cigarette packages (OR = 3.32), or received help to quit (OR = 3.11) were more likely to have attempted to quit cigarettes.”

US study yields similar results

Similarly, data extracted from two US population-based surveys, NIHS and TUS-CPS, had shown that current e-cigarette use in the States, was associated with higher quit attempts and also with greater smoking cessation success.

The NHIS results had indicated that current use of e-cigarettes was associated with a higher number of attempts to quit smoking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.87 to 2.81, p < .001) and greater smoking cessation (aOR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.21 to 2.21, p = .001). And the TUS-CPS data showed a similar pattern, with current e-cigarette use being significantly associated with increased past-12-month quit attempts and with quitting successfully.