Background

Background. The electronic cigarette (EC) is a small device used as a potentially less harmful alternative to regular cigarettes. It is often advertised as a new tool for smoking cessation. After its introduction to the market in 2004, ECs became a global hit with few billion USD worth sales each year. Although it has global popularity, not much is known about the real reasons users choose them instead of other tobacco products.

Objectives

To understand the reasons why Polish vapers start using ECs.

Material and methods

This was a cross-sectional study based on an especially prepared questionnaire. This included the multiple choice question: “What made you start vaping e-cigarettes?”. A link to a survey published on the Survey Monkey web platform was distributed among EC facebook groups and vaper forums.

Results

After collection of the results of the survey (run during in the last 6 months of 2016), 1142 responses were included into final analysis. The studied population included mainly men in the age group of 18–25 with secondary and higher education, living in urban areas. Three major reasons to start vaping were stated: lack of unpleasant odour (65.7%), belief in less harmfulness of ECs (64.6%) and better taste of ECs (58.8%) in comparison to regular cigarettes.

Conclusions

Perception of lesser harmfulness of e-cigarettes, lack of unpleasant odour and better taste of ECs as compared to regular cigarettes are important reasons for Polish vapers to start using ECs. Because many users switch to ECs from cigarettes and are convinced about their positive health effects, family physicians should inform them about lack of evidence on EC safety and encourage them to quit smoking no matter which nicotine delivery system they use.