Is e-cigarette use associated with better health and functioning among smokers approaching midlife?

Many adult smokers have tried electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as a less harmful alternative to combustible cigarettes. There is limited evidence, however, for the extent to which switching to e-cigarettes is associated with better health and functioning among nicotine users approaching their 40s-the beginning of midlife-when many health issues become more evident. This study examined the adoption of e-cigarette use ("vaping") among smokers in their 30s, and its association with diverse measures of healthy and successful aging at age 39.

Data were from the Seattle Social Development Project, a panel study of 808 diverse participants with high retention (88%-91%). A subsample of 156 who used combustible cigarettes (smoked) at age 30 and smoked or vaped at age 39 was selected for analysis. A measure of vaping frequency, relative to combustible cigarette use, was computed from self-reports of past-month vaping and smoking at age 39. Nine measures of health and functioning in the past year were computed at age 39, with nine corresponding measures at age 30.

Among smokers at age 30, 36% adopted vaping some or all of the time by age 39. Higher relative vaping frequency was related to 4 of 9 outcomes examined, including significantly more exercise, more constructive engagement, better physical health, and higher SES at age 39, accounting for prior behaviors at age 30.

Findings suggest that, among smokers in their 30s, replacing combustible cigarettes with vaping may be associated with key markers of healthy and successful aging to age 39.