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Prevalence and correlates of current daily use of electronic cigarettes in the European Union: analysis of the 2014 Eurobarometer survey

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Abstract

The study purpose was to analyze current daily and current daily nicotine-containing electronic cigarette (EC) use in the European Union (EU). Special Eurobarometer 429, a cross-sectional survey performed in a representative sample of 28 member states of the EU in November and December of 2014, was analyzed. The prevalence of current daily and current daily nicotine-containing EC use was 1.08% (95% CI 0.95–1.20%) and 1.00% (95% CI 0.88–1.12%), respectively, and was mainly observed in current and former smokers. Minimal current daily (0.08%, 95% CI 0.03–0.12%) and current daily nicotine-containing EC use (0.04%, 95% CI 0.01–0.08%) was observed among never smokers. Smoking cessation with the help of ECs was reported by 47.12% (95% CI 41.28–52.96%) of current daily and 49.14% (95% CI 43.12–55.17%) of current daily nicotine-containing EC users. Additionally, 33.18% (95% CI 27.67–38.69%) and 31.40% (95% CI 25.80–36.99%) reported reduction in smoking consumption, respectively. The strongest correlates of daily EC use were being current and former smokers. In the EU in late 2014, current daily EC use was predominantly observed in current and former smokers and was associated with high self-reported rates of smoking cessation and reduction. Current daily EC use by never smokers was extremely infrequent.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Sygrou 356, 17674, Kallithea, Greece

    Konstantinos E. Farsalinos & Vassilis Voudris

  2. Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, 26500, Rio, Greece

    Konstantinos E. Farsalinos & Konstantinos Poulas

  3. Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England, UK

    Jacques Le Houezec

  4. Addiction Research Unit, INSERM 1178 (Mental and Public Health), Paris, France

    Jacques Le Houezec

Authors
  1. Konstantinos E. Farsalinos
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  2. Konstantinos Poulas
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  3. Vassilis Voudris
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  4. Jacques Le Houezec
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Konstantinos E. Farsalinos.

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Funding

No funding was provided for this study.

Conflict of interest

For KF and VV, their institution was remunerated by two e-cigarette companies for two unpublished studies in 2013 (>36 months ago), while two studies were funded by the non-profit association AEMSA in 2013 and one by the non-profit association Tennessee Smoke-Free Association in 2015. JLH has received speaker honorarium and consultancy fees from Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, and Pierre Fabre.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Farsalinos, K.E., Poulas, K., Voudris, V. et al. Prevalence and correlates of current daily use of electronic cigarettes in the European Union: analysis of the 2014 Eurobarometer survey. Intern Emerg Med 12, 757–763 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-017-1643-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-017-1643-7

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