Gender Differences in Reasons for Using Electronic Cigarettes: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Tobacco Control

Background:

• Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is prevalent, yet reasons for use by gender remain underexplored.
• Existing literature lacks a systematic overview of gender-specific motivations for e-cigarette adoption and continued use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and identify gender differences in the motivations for electronic cigarette use.
• To inform potential gender-tailored prevention and treatment strategies for tobacco use disorder.

Main Methods:

• Conducted systematic searches across Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases.
• Included 26 peer-reviewed studies that met predefined inclusion criteria.
• Categorized reasons for e-cigarette use into 17 distinct themes.

Main Results:

• Sixteen studies reported statistically significant gender differences in e-cigarette use reasons.
• Commonly cited reasons included health/smoking cessation, curiosity, pleasure, location, social acceptability, and cost.
• Significant differences varied considerably across studies, with inconsistent findings for many reasons, including health/smoking cessation.

Conclusions:

• While gender differences in e-cigarette use reasons exist, they are not consistently reported across studies.
• The heterogeneity of findings limits the ability to develop gender-specific intervention recommendations.
• Further research is crucial to elucidate nuanced gender-based motivations for e-cigarette use.