Table 1

Characteristics of the study subjects (internet survey), both sexes, n=8240

Characteristics at baseline 2015n*%
Total8240100.0
Sex
 Men408449.6
 Women415650.4
Age groups, years
 15–1988110.7
 20–29146217.7
 30–39146517.8
 40–49148718.1
 50–59146117.7
 60–69148418.0
Smoking status
 Never-smoker483958.7
 Former smoker158219.2
 Current smoker with intention to quit2813.4
 Current smoker with no intention to quit153818.7
Workplace indoor smoking ban status
 No ban (including smoking room/corner)269932.8
 Complete ban325639.5
 Not working/did not know228527.7
HNB tobacco/e-cigarette use status
 Never used with no preference for e-cigarette use736989.4
 Never used but would like to try e-cigarette in future3534.3
 Ever-user5186.3
Equivalent household income
 1st quartile (lowest)207925.2
 2nd quartile164620.0
 3rd quartile153118.6
 4th quartile (highest)125615.2
 Did not know/did not want to answer172921.0
Housing tenure
 Does not own housing223727.2
 Owns housing600372.9
Education
 Junior high school/high school490559.5
 University/technical school/college or more333540.5
Marital status
 Married497060.3
 Never married280234.0
 Divorced/widowed4685.7
Alcohol consumption
 Never-drinker336040.8
 Former drinker4735.8
 Current drinker440653.5
Self-rated health
 Good (excellent/very good/good)735689.3
 Poor (fair/poor)88410.7
Area-level deprivation index of living place
 1st quartile (least deprived)110913.5
 2nd quartile164520.0
 3rd quartile240429.2
 4th quartile (most deprived)286234.7
 Missing/unknown2192.7
Experience of having seen the TV programme†‡
 Had not seen375645.6
 Had seen4385.3
 Did not respond to 2017 survey404649.1
Awareness of tobacco company promotion†
 Never, seldom or sometimes seen384646.7
 Often or very often seen1531.9
 Did not respond to 2017 survey/responded to reduced version§424051.5
  • *Adjusted for ‘being a respondent in an internet survey’ using a nationally representative sample in Japan.

  • †Information collected in 2017 survey.

  • ‡An episode of a popular entertainment TV show introducing IQOS, broadcasted on 28 April 2016, in Japan (see methods section for detail).

  • §‘Responded to reduced version’ means responders who answered the question-reduced version that did not included some questions, such as on awareness of tobacco company promotion (n=194).Trends in current use of HNB tobacco/e-cigarette, both sexes, in Japan. Longitudinal internet survey, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Note: rate of glo use in 2015 and 2016 (before glo’s sales start) was 0%. HNB, heat-not-burn.

  • HNB, heat-not-burn.