Patterns of Daily Cigarette and E-cigarette Use among United States Youth and Young Adults: Insights from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort between 2018 and 2019

Abstract

Purpose: Temporal patterns of daily tobacco product use among ever users from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort (TLC) between 2018 and 2019 were explored. Methods: The sample (N = 5274) includes individuals (15–36 years), residing in the United States, who had ever used any tobacco product at Wave 7 (February – May 2018) and provided tobacco use information at Wave 9 (September – December 2019). Results: There was a nonsignificant 1.1 percentage point increase in daily tobacco use (on at least 25 of the past 30 days), from 14.6% (95% CI: 12.8, 16.6) to 15.7% (95% CI: 13.8, 17.7). Tobacco product use remained stable over time, as 65.3% (95% CI: 56.4, 73.3) of daily cigarette smokers, 57.0% (95% CI: 43.6, 69.4) of daily e-cigarette vapers, and 8.5% (95% CI: 2.0, 29.3) of daily dual users stayed with their primary tobacco product. There was also some evidence of switching, as 7.5% (95% CI: 3.7, 14.8) of daily cigarette smokers became daily e-cigarette vapers and 2.3% (95% CI: 0.7, 6.8) of daily e-cigarette vapers became daily cigarette smokers. Discussion: Although most daily tobacco users were likely to continue using their primary product, some daily users transitioned to daily use of other products – suggesting that policies and public education focused on reducing overall nicotine use are essential for addressing the nicotine epidemic among young people.

Keywords

• Cigarette
• E-cigarette
• Tobacco
• Public health
• Youth
• Young adults