Home > A 2015 national survey of e-cigarette use among Irish youth.

Keogan, Sheila and Taylor, Keishia and Babineau, Kate and Clancy, Luke (2016) A 2015 national survey of e-cigarette use among Irish youth. European Respiratory Journal, 48, DOI: 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA2019.

Background: Tobacco use among young people in Ireland is declining but remains a problem. The use of e-cigarettes is increasing and its implications unsure. In our previous Irish study, 23.8% (n=196) of respondents had used e-cigarettes at least once and 4.2% of never smokers had used e-cigarettes (Babineau, K. et al. (2015) PLoS ONE 10(5)).

Design/methods: A cross-sectional, nationally-representative survey was conducted with 2028 young people aged 15-17 as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). This included 4 items on e-cigarettes as well as several items on smoking behaviours and attitudes.

Results: 24.7% (n=482) reported use of e-cigarettes at least once, including 214 students who reported using e-cigarettes in the last 30 days (11.0%). 130 students reported daily use of e-cigarettes (6.8% of sample). 18.3% of e-cigarette users (n=88) cited quitting tobacco as a reason for using e-cigarettes. The most common reason for using e-cigarettes was “out of curiosity” 61.2%, (n=295). 8.3% of never smokers had used e-cigarettes (n=109). 13.4% (n=272) reported that they had smoked one or more cigarettes in the last 30 days, 6.9% smoked daily (n=139). Two-thirds of students (66.7%, n=1,350) reported that they had never smoked a cigarette.

Conclusion: E-cigarettes are popular among youth in Ireland, with around a quarter of respondents reporting they had used e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are now used as commonly as cigarettes. Even more worrying is the finding that there has been an almost doubling of e-cigarette usage among never smokers in the current study. The implications for future smoking is unknown but nicotine addiction seems set to continue.


Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, Article
Drug Type
Tobacco / Nicotine
Intervention Type
Screening / Assessment
Date
2016
Identification #
DOI: 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA2019
Publisher
Maney Publishing
Volume
48
EndNote
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