Effect of seeing e-cigarettes in small shops on probability of e-cigarette experimentation by 1 year follow up in adolescents in Scotland, UK

Abstract

Background Previous research has found that small shops are frequently visited by young people and product exposures in this environment influence their health-related behaviours. Evidence from cross-sectional research suggests that recall of seeing e-cigarettes in small shops is associated with adolescent experimentation with e-cigarettes. This study is the first to explore these relationships with longitudinal follow up. Methods Data are from the Determining the Impact of Smoking Legislation among Youth (DISPLAY) study. A prospective cohort survey was conducted in 4 high schools in Scotland UK during spring 2015 (n=3807) with follow up 1 year later. Analysis was restricted to young people who had never used an e-cigarette in 2015 (n= 2839) and 2388 of these (84%) provided their e-cigarette status in 2016. Results At baseline 636 (22.6%) of young never e-cigarette users recalled seeing e-cigarettes for sale in small shops in the last 30 days. In a logistic regression the adjusted odds ratio for e-cigarette experimentation by follow up was 1.50 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.08) for young people who recalled seeing e-cigarettes in small shops compared to those who did not. The model was adjusted for recall of e- cigarettes in supermarkets, recall of e-cigarettes on the internet, recall of e- cigarettes adverts on other media (TV, radio, newspapers), having friends who smoke, having family members that smoke, young person's smoking status, sex, age, family affluence scale and school. Conclusions Seeing e-cigarettes for sale in small shops may increase the likelihood that young people will experiment with them. The model was adjusted for noticing other forms of e-cigarette advertising so this corrects for the fact that young people who are already interested in e-cigarettes may be more likely to notice potential sources and information about e-cigarettes. The role of small retailers in normalizing novel nicotine product use in young people requires further investigation.

Keywords

• WCTOH