Patterns of electronic cigarette use in current and ever users among college students in France: a cross–sectional study

Marie-Pierre Tavolacci (1, 2, 3, 4) , Anca Vasiliu (1) , Lucia Romo (5) , Gayatri Kotbagi (5) , Laurence Kern (5) , Joël Ladner (6, 2, 3, 4)

1 CIC Rouen - Centre d'Investigation Clinique [CHU Rouen]
2 ADEN - Nutrition, inflammation et dysfonctionnement de l'axe intestin-cerveau
3 IRIB - Institute for Research and Innovation in Biomedicine
4 UNIROUEN - Université de Rouen Normandie
5 CeRSM - Centre de Recherche sur le Sport et le Mouvement
6 Département d'épidémiologie et de promotion de la santé [Rouen]

Objective: There is sparse information on electronic cigarette use and health behaviours among college student populations. Our objectives were to identify the patterns of electronic cigarette use in current and ever users among college students in France. Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted on two major campuses in France. Students filled in an anonymous questionnaire on their use of electronic cigarettes and on targeted behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, binge drinking, use of cannabis, practice of sport and eating disorders. Ever use of electronic cigarettes was defined as use but not during the previous 30 days, and current use of electronic cigarettes as any use in the previous 30 days. The opinions and motivations of electronic cigarette users were also sought and collected. Results: The 1134 students included had a mean age of 20.8 years. The prevalence of ever use and current use of electronic cigarettes was 23.0% (95% CI (20.5% to 25.3%)) and 5.7% (95% CI (4.4% to 7.1%)), respectively. The prevalence of the combined use of conventional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes was 14.5%. Almost half (45.8%) of the ever users of electronic cigarettes had never smoked conventional cigarettes. Behaviours associated with ever use of electronic cigarettes were current cigarette smoking (adjusted OR (AOR)=3.97, 95% CI 2.71 to 5.83), former smoking (AOR=2.56, 95% CI 1.42 to 4.61), cannabis use (AOR=2.44, 95% CI 1.70 to 3.51) and occasional binge drinking (AOR=1.83, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.64). The only behaviour associated with current use of electronic cigarettes was conventional smoking, either previously (AOR=4.85, 95% CI 1.53 to 15.34) or currently (AOR=14.53, 95% CI 6.81 to 31.02). Conclusions: The ever users have an experimenter's profile with sensation-seeking while the current users are mostly smokers with intention to quit smoking. Our findings are crucial for the accurate targeting of student populations at risk and to implement appropriate awareness campaigns and health education programmes.

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Marie-Pierre Tavolacci, Anca Vasiliu, Lucia Romo, Gayatri Kotbagi, Laurence Kern, et al.. Patterns of electronic cigarette use in current and ever users among college students in France: a cross–sectional study. BMJ Open, 2016, 6 (5), pp.e011344. ⟨10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011344⟩. ⟨hal-02301226⟩