Prevalence of e-cigarette use from a nationally representative sample in New Zealand

To explore the prevalence of e-cigarette use in New Zealand in a nationally representative sample aged 15 years and over.

The Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS) is a biennial face-to-face in-house survey of New Zealand adults aged 15 years or over. The HLS was completed by 3854 participants in 2016.

17% of adults have tried e-cigarettes, while only 2% reported current use. The prevalence of ever use of e-cigarettes was greater in young and middle-aged adults, compared with older adults, Māori compared with NZ European, and current and former smokers, compared to never smokers. Current smokers and recent quitters displayed the highest levels of e-cigarette use, with never smokers reporting low ever use (2.8%) and no regular use. Following adjusted analyses only current smokers and recent quitters were more likely to report current or daily e-cigarette use.

Although 17% of adults report having tried e-cigarettes, very few report current use. It is possible that difficulty of use, compounded by lack of support, is preventing conversion to regular use or successful use as a quitting aid. Public health initiatives should inform individuals how to correctly use e-cigarettes optimally for smoking cessation, ideally targeting this messaging toward younger and middle-aged adults, Māori, current smokers, and recent quitters.