Tobacco Product Use Often Leads to Cigarette Smoking
The use of noncigarette tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, hookah, noncigarette combustible tobacco, and smokeless tobacco, is associated with a greater risk of cigarette smoking 1 year later, according to findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.
From September 12, 2013 to December 14, 2014 (wave 1), the researchers assessed a national sample of US youths who had never smoked a conventional cigarette prior to the start of the study. Next, from October 23, 2014 to October 30, 2015 (wave 2), 10,384 PATH respondents (mean age 14.3 years) were evaluated at follow-up (retention rate: 87.9%).
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Results revealed that 469 (4.6%) of youths in the study had tried a cigarette over the course of 1-year follow-up, and 219 (2.1%) had smoked a cigarette within the past 30 days. Many youths who had ever used e-cigarettes (78 [19.1%]), hookah (60 [18.3%]), noncigarette combustible tobacco (45 [19.2%]), or smokeless tobacco (29 [18.8%]) had gone on to try cigarettes by the end of follow-up.
Following adjustment for various factors, ever users of e-cigarettes (odds ratio [OR], 1.87), hookah (OR 1.92), noncigarette combustible tobacco (OR 1.78), and smokeless tobacco (OR 2.07) at baseline had a doubled risk of past 30-day cigarette use at follow-up. Notably, findings also showed that the likelihood of past 30-day cigarette use at follow-up was 3.81-fold higher among youths who had tried more than 1 type of tobacco product vs never tobacco users at baseline.
“Any use of e-cigarettes, hookah, noncigarette combustible tobacco, or smokeless tobacco was independently associated with cigarette smoking 1 year later,” the researchers concluded. “Use of more than 1 product increased the odds of progressing to cigarette use.”
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Watkins SL, Glantz SA, Chaffee BW. Association of noncigarette tobacco product use with future cigarette smoking among youth in the population assessment of tobacco and health (PATH) study, 2013-2015 [Published online January 2, 2018]. JAMA Pediatr. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.4173.