Flavor is common reason for vaping initiation, more likely to motivate adults aged 18 to 24 years to start
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Use of flavored electronic cigarettes is associated with greater satisfaction and self-perceived addiction than use of nonflavored e-cigarettes, according to a study scheduled to be published in the December print issue of Addictive Behaviors.
Robyn L. Landry, from the American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center in Dallas, and colleagues examined the role of flavors in initiation of e-cigarette use in a sample of adults consisting of 1,492 current e-cigarette users aged 18 years or older.
The researchers found that 62.9 percent of current e-cigarette users typically used flavors other than tobacco, including fruit, mint/menthol, sweet, candy, coffee, and other; 24.2 and 12.9 percent typically used tobacco flavors and used nonflavored e-cigarettes, respectively. Overall, 29.5 percent of the sample selected flavor as a reason for vaping initiation. Compared with adults aged 35 to 44 years, young adults aged 18 to 24 years were more likely to be motivated by flavor, especially fruit flavor, to initiate vaping. The odds of reporting high satisfaction with vaping were increased among those who used flavors, particularly mint/menthol and flavors other than tobacco flavor; these users also had increased odds of perceived addiction to vaping than those who did not use flavored e-cigarettes.
“Additional research, particularly of a longitudinal nature, is needed to better understand the influence of e-cigarette flavors in initiation and continued use,” the authors write. “This study adds to previous research suggesting flavors may serve to promote the initiation and maintenance of e-cigarette use.”
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