Abstract
2/2020
vol. 6
Original paper
E-cigarette use among Polish students: findings from the 2016 Poland Global Youth Tobacco Survey
- Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
- Health Promotion Foundation, Nadarzyn, Poland
- National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Office of Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring, Office of Policy Development and Research, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, USA
- Tobacco Control Research Group, Department for Health, University of Bath, UK
- Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology Center, Warsaw, Poland
- Collegium Civitas, Warsaw, Poland
J Health Inequal 2020; 6 (2): 95-103
Online publish date: 2020/12/30
Use of e-cigarettes has increased dramatically in recent years around the world. The aim of this study is to provide comprehensive national estimates of e-cigarette and tobacco use among Polish youth.
A national, representative school-based cross-sectional survey among students was conducted in 2016 in Poland within the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, using a standard self-administered questionnaire, sample design and data collection protocol. A total of 5,154 eligible students (51.6% boys and 48.4% girls) aged between 11-17 years completed the survey. Among them 26.9% (31.5% of boys and 21.8% of girls) were current (use at least once in the past 30 days) e-cigarette users and 20.5% (21% of boys and 19.9% of girls) were current cigarette smokers. Fourteen percent of students were dual users of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Both cigarette and e-cigarette use increased with age, rural residence, having more pocket money, and having parents or close friends who smoke. There was also a strong correlation between use of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Current e-cigarette use was 68.7% among current cigarette smokers, while current cigarette use was 54.8% among current e-cigarette users.
Daily cigarette smoking among youth has decreased substantially in Poland from 24% in 1998 to 4.8% in 2016 in boys, and from 14.4% to 3.6% in girls. However, the rapid rise in e-cigarette use poses a potential danger of reversing the tobacco use trend. Continued monitoring is needed to track the use of e-cigarettes and their impact on conventional cigarette use among youth in Poland.
A national, representative school-based cross-sectional survey among students was conducted in 2016 in Poland within the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, using a standard self-administered questionnaire, sample design and data collection protocol. A total of 5,154 eligible students (51.6% boys and 48.4% girls) aged between 11-17 years completed the survey. Among them 26.9% (31.5% of boys and 21.8% of girls) were current (use at least once in the past 30 days) e-cigarette users and 20.5% (21% of boys and 19.9% of girls) were current cigarette smokers. Fourteen percent of students were dual users of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Both cigarette and e-cigarette use increased with age, rural residence, having more pocket money, and having parents or close friends who smoke. There was also a strong correlation between use of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Current e-cigarette use was 68.7% among current cigarette smokers, while current cigarette use was 54.8% among current e-cigarette users.
Daily cigarette smoking among youth has decreased substantially in Poland from 24% in 1998 to 4.8% in 2016 in boys, and from 14.4% to 3.6% in girls. However, the rapid rise in e-cigarette use poses a potential danger of reversing the tobacco use trend. Continued monitoring is needed to track the use of e-cigarettes and their impact on conventional cigarette use among youth in Poland.
Keywords
e-cigarettes, GYTS, youth, tobacco smoking, prevalence, Poland
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