Pod-based electronic cigarette use among California youth

Bottom Line: Adolescents and young adults who used new pod-based electronic cigarettes commonly did so along with other e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes.

Why The Research Is Interesting: E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among adolescents and young adults. More information is needed on how new pod-based e-cigarette products affect attitudes, initiation and use of tobacco products. This study examined pod-based e-cigarette use and compared it with the use of other e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes by California adolescents and young adults.

Who and When: 445 California adolescents and young adults (average age 19) from an ongoing study with data collected in 2018 about the use of tobacco products and perceptions of tobacco products

What (Study Measures and Outcomes): Use of pod-based e-cigarettes, e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes (exposures); use of the products at various intervals, use of flavors and nicotine in pod-based e-cigarettes and e-cigarettes; and perceptions about risks, benefits and nicotine dependence (outcomes)

How (Study Design): This was a survey study.

Authors:  Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Ph.D., Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, and coauthors

Results: Among users of pod-based cigarettes, the use of other e-cigarettes and cigarettes was common (see image below); the first pod ever used was flavored for the majority of users; and the average perceived chances of experiencing social and health risks from either pod-based e-cigarettes or other e-cigarettes was about 40 percent.

Study Limitations: The survey drew only from California schools and survey questions about pod-based e-cigarettes weren't designed to address differences in understanding of the devices.

Related Material: The invited commentary, "Pod Mod Electronic Cigarettes - An Emerging Threat to Public Health," by Tory R. Spindle, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and Thomas Eissenberg, Ph.D., of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, also is available on the For The Media website.

To Learn More: The full study is available on the For The Media website.

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3535)

Editor's Note: The article contains funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

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