Prevalence of Electronic Cigarette Use in Saudi Arabia

The electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) was aggressively promoted as a healthier alternative to tobacco smoking. Despite the fact that e-cigarettes gained popularity among youth and young adults, there are no national data assessing the prevalence of e-cigarette use in Saudi Arabia.

The present study aims at establishing the prevalence and correlates of electronic cigarette use among adults in Saudi Arabia.

A cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of using electronic cigarettes in Saudi Arabia through a self-administered questionnaire. The data collected from the questionnaire were focusing on socio-demographic data as well as information on the type of smoking that adults are using. Data were represented in terms of frequencies and valid percentages for categorical variables. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 26.

A total of 3374 participants responded to this questionnaire. Around 26% of this cohort have tried electronic cigarettes at least once in their lives. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference (p value <0.001) in using smokeless tobacco, where e-cigarette smokers had higher incidence of smokeless tobacco smoking. Also, e-cigarette smokers had significantly higher (p value=0.002) frequency of smoking tobacco. Moreover, e-cigarette smoking was significantly higher among males (p value <0.001), with higher educational levels (p value <0.001) and age group between 18 and 24 years old.

Electronic cigarette use is more common among young adults and those who have previously tried tobacco smoking. Other randomized studies are urgent to explore the extent of harmful effects of electronic cigarettes smoking (e-smoking) in the Kingdom.