Patterns of e-cigarette use frequency from Wave 1 (2013–2014) to Wave 2 (2014–2015) among adult e-cigarette users at Wave 1*, PATH Study (n=2797)
| Frequency of use at Wave 1† | Frequency of use at Wave 2 | |||||||
| Reported the same level of frequency of use | Increased frequency of use (infrequent to moderate; or moderate to daily) | Decreased frequency of use (daily to moderate; or moderate to infrequent) | Ceased use (reported currently not using at all or never use at Wave 2) | |||||
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | |
| Age category | ||||||||
| All Adults 18+ | ||||||||
| All users (n=2797) | 28.6 | 26.5 to 30.9 | 11.1 | 9.9 to 12.4 | 11.4 | 10.3 to 12.7 | 48.8 | 46.4 to 51.3 |
| Infrequent users (n=1173) | 19.3 | 17.2 to 21.7 | 18.6 | 16.2 to 21.2 | n/a | 62.1 | 58.8 to 65.2 | |
| Moderate users (n=1031) | 24.1 | 21.6 to 26.8 | 9.4 | 7.7 to 11.3 | 17.5 | 15.3 to 20.0 | 49.0 | 46.0 to 52.1 |
| Daily users (n=590) | 53.5 | 48.6 to 58.4 | n/a | n/a | 22.8 | 19.4 to 26.5 | 23.7 | 19.7 to 28.3 |
| Young adults 18–24 | ||||||||
| All users (n=814) | 24.8 | 21.5 to 28.3 | 12.3 | 10.2 to 14.7 | 11.7 | 9.6 to 14.3 | 51.2 | 46.9 to 55.5 |
| Infrequent users (n=406) | 21.2 | 17.1 to 26.0 | 18.2 | 14.5 to 22.7 | n/a | 60.6 | 55.0 to 65.9 | |
| Moderate users (n=282) | 21.5 | 16.5 to 27.5 | 9.6 | 6.5 to 14.0 | 19.5 | 15.3 to 24.6 | 49.4 | 42.9 to 55.9 |
| Daily users (n=125) | 43.1 | 33.5 to 53.4 | n/a | n/a | 30.8 | 23.2 to 39.7 | 26.0 | 18.3 to 35.5 |
| Adults 25+ | ||||||||
| All users (n=1981) | 29.5 | 27.0 to 32.1 | 10.8 | 9.4 to 12.4 | 11.4 | 10.1 to 12.9 | 48.3 | 45.7 to 51.0 |
| Infrequent users (n=765) | 18.3 | 15.7 to 21.2 | 18.8 | 15.8 to 22.1 | n/a | 62.9 | 59.0 to 66.7 | |
| Moderate users (n=749) | 24.7 | 21.7 to 27.9 | 9.3 | 7.4 to 11.6 | 17.1 | 14.5 to 19.9 | 48.9 | 45.4 to 52.5 |
| Daily users (n=465) | 55.3 | 49.9 to 60.5 | n/a | n/a | 21.4 | 17.8 to 25.5 | 23.3 | 19.1 to 28.2 |
Frequencies are based on unweighted data and all other estimates are weighted.
*Among the 3642 current (every day or some day) users at Wave 1, 683 do not have follow-up information and 245 reported never having used an e-cigarette at Wave 2. For this analysis, the 683 who do not have follow-up information at Wave 2 are excluded from the Wave 2 totals shown above; the 245 who reported current e-cigarette use at W1 but reported never use at W2 are treated as former e-cigarette users. Respondents at Wave 1 were asked about their ‘e-cigarette’ use, whereas in Wave 2, respondents were asked about their e-cigarette use as well as other ENPs including ‘e-cigars’, ‘e-pipes’ and ‘e-hookah’. Of the 3642 W1 e-cigarette users, a total of 86 respondents indicated they currently used other ENPs (and not e-cigarettes) and 53 reported formerly using other ENPs (but not e-cigarettes) at Wave 2. The use states in the table above for W2 reflect use of ONLY e-cigarettes (not other ENP) as the ENP questionnaire does not ascertain the number of days used in the past 30 days. Additionally, 23 adult e-cigarette users were dropped from the current analysis due to missing data on e-cigarette use behaviour.
†Infrequent use was defined as those who reported using an e-cigarette ‘some days’ and reported using an e-cigarette on 0 to 2 of the past 30 days. Moderate use was defined as those who reported using an e-cigarettes on ‘some days’ and reported using an e-cigarette on >3 of the past 30 days. Daily use was defined as those who reported using an e-cigarette ‘every day’.
ENPs, electronic nicotine products; PATH, Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health.