Profile of e-cigarette use and its relationship with cigarette quit attempts and abstinence in Kansas adults.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe electronic cigarette use in Kansas adults and its relationship with cigarette cessation.

METHODS: The Kansas Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS) is a 2012-2013 phone survey of non-institutionalized Kansas adults (N=9656). The ATS was analyzed to create a profile of cigarette and e-cigarette users, and demonstrate associations between e-cigarette use and cigarette cessation attempts and cigarette abstinence.

RESULTS: In 2013, 45% of adult cigarette smokers had tried e-cigarettes and 14% had used e-cigarettes in the past month. The prevalence of current cigarette smoking was 76.5% among past-month e-cigarette users. Adults who only use e-cigarettes are younger and more affluent than adults who only smoke cigarettes. The prevalence of past-month e-cigarette use among smokers who made a quit attempt in the past year is more than double that of smokers who did not. E-cigarette use was negatively associated with past-month (aPOR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.11-0.38) and past-year cigarette abstinence (aPOR=0.14, 95% CI: 0.10-0.22).

CONCLUSIONS: E-cigarette use is common among cigarette smokers. E-cigarette use is more common among smokers who made a recent quit attempt and many smokers report using smokeless tobacco or e-cigarettes to help quit. Recent cigarette abstinence, however, is negatively associated with e-cigarette use.