TOPLINE:
There was a substantial increase in the prevalence of long-term (> 6 months) vaping among adults in England from 2013 to 2023, much of which occurred in 2021 and coincided with the popularity of disposable e-cigarettes.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers conducted a retrospective, population-based study examining how the prevalence of long-term (> 6 months) vaping changed overall and by vaping frequency (daily or non-daily) in adults between October 2013 and October 2023 and the main device type used (disposable, refillable, or pod).
- Data were derived from the ongoing, monthly, cross-sectional Smoking Toolkit Study that collects vaping among English adults.
TAKEAWAY:
- In the final sample of 125,751 adults, the proportion reporting long-term vaping increased non-linearly from 1.3% to 10.0% between October 2013 and October 2023 (from 1.3% to 3.3% between October 2013 and July 2017; stabilised between July 2017 and August 2019, and later increased sharply, especially from late 2021).
- Sharp increases were observed when disposable e-cigarettes became available (relative risk [RR], 1.245; range, 1.181-1.312) with the prevalence rising by 38.6% annually since (RR, 1.386).
- Increases in long-term vaping were larger in people with regular smoking histories, increasing to 6.8% of adults in October 2023. The observed difference between the prevalence of long-term daily vaping vs long-term non-daily vaping was less pronounced in never smokers (1.5% [95% CI, 1.1%-2.1%] vs 0.6% [95% CI, 0.3%-0.9%]) in October 2023.
- Notable declines were seen from 2013/2014 to 2022/2023 in proportions reporting they were vaping less than weekly (18.3% to 5.7%) or at least weekly but less than daily (20.6% to 8.9%).
IN PRACTICE:
"Growth has been concentrated among people with a history of regular smoking, but an increase has also occurred among those who never regularly smoked, especially young adults," the authors wrote. "Our current study shows that the proportion of young adults [and 11-17 years olds] vaping long term is now higher than smoking rates have been in [these age groups] since 2017," they added.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Sarah E. Jackson, University College London, UK, and appeared online in the BMJ.
LIMITATIONS:
Limitations included the study design/inability to infer causality, a sample limited to adults, vaping definition, an inability to model trends in device type, a potential underreporting, and an approach to determining smoker status.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by Cancer Research UK. Jamine Brown and Lion Shahab reported research funding from Pfizer, Jamine Brown also received fund from J&J, and Lion Shahab reported consulting fees from the University of Toronto, Brown University, Fraud Plus, and support for attending meetings as well as other support. Sarah E. Jackson and Harry Tattan-Birch reported no financial disclosures of interest.
