B3322 - Assessing trajectories of e-cigarette use and smoking and their risk factors - 06/06/2019
Smoking is the worldâs leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality, killing over seven million people annually. Cigarettes contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. E-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking, can successfully deliver nicotine, and can help some smokers quit. However, their long-term health effects are unknown, and there are concerns about e-cigarette use among non-smokers. Longitudinal surveys show that non-smoking youth who use e-cigarettes are more likely to go on to try smoking. However, it is not clear whether (1) e-cigarette use can lead to nicotine addiction, sustained e-cigarette use, or regular smoking, (2) the association between e-cigarette use and smoking exists due to common risk factors.
This project therefore aims to assess the trajectories of e-cigarette use and smoking, and whether there are common risk factors for these trajectories.
Measures assessing e-cigarette use and smoking will be designed and included in the next questionnaire (2020-2021). Data from these will be combined with previous ALSPAC data on e-cigarette use and smoking to assess trajectories of product use. Previous ALSPAC data assessing individual, family, peer, school, and community-level factors will also be accessed and used to predict the different trajectories of use.