Dual Use of E-Cigarettes and Traditional Cigarettes Among Adolescents in Taiwan, 2014-2016

We investigated the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) with traditional cigarettes among adolescents during 2014 to 2016 to identify risk factors for using e-cigarettes only, traditional cigarettes only, or both products.

We used cross-sectional data from the Taiwan Global Youth Tobacco Survey, (conducted over a 3-year period by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan), which is representative of tobacco use among adolescents aged 12-18 years. The outcome variable was smoking behavior. Dependent variables included gender, grade, monthly income/allowance, parents' educational level, parents' smoking status, close friends' smoking status, use of other tobacco products, contact with cigarette/e-cigarette advertisements, and access to free cigarettes/e-cigarettes. Multinomial regression identify factors influencing the smoking behaviors of adolescents, as manifested in the use of traditional cigarettes only, e-cigarettes only, e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes, and nonsmoking.

When weighted to the population, the sample included 1723150 adolescents in 2014, 1691568 adolescents in 2015, and 1627216 adolescents in 2016. The rates averaged over three years were as follows: nonsmoking (91.6%), traditional cigarettes only (5.4%), e-cigarettes only (1.5%), and dual usage (1.6%). Among adolescents in Taiwan, the following were risk factors for dual use: male, older, high monthly allowance, smoking parents, smoking friends, use of other tobacco products, contact with cigarette advertisements, and access to free cigarettes.

Our results revealed an increase in the number of adolescents using e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes. We recommend that the government continue smoking cessation programs while maintaining control over advertisements and promotions for tobacco products.

This is the first study to examine the dual use of e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes among adolescents in Taiwan. This study identified the risk factors of using traditional cigarettes only, using e-cigarettes only, and the dual use of e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, with nonsmokers used as a reference group. This study examined the relationship between exposure to cigarette promotions and the use of various tobacco products including the dual use of e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, both of which have been disregarded in previous studies.