Association Between E-Cigarette Use and Acculturation Among Adult Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

Despite a dramatic increase in e-cigarette popularity in recent years, the relationship between acculturation and e-cigarette use among immigrants largely remains unknown. We investigated the association between acculturation, measured by both self-reported English proficiency and length of stay in the United States, and immigrants’ use of e-cigarettes using data from the 2016-2017 National Health Interview Survey. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the associations of acculturation factors with ever and current use of e-cigarettes. We found that high English proficiency increased the odds of ever using e-cigarettes among immigrants (adjusted odds ratios: “well,” 2.22; “very well,” 3.24; with the reference group being “not well”). The association was significant among only men. However, we did not find a significant association between length of stay in the United States and e-cigarette use after adjusting for English proficiency. Future research is warranted to investigate how peer use, family-level factors, country of origin, and marketing strategies jointly influence e-cigarette use among immigrants, especially men.