Characteristics of tobacco users
| Total | Type of tobacco products used | P value* | |||||||
| CC only | HTP only | EC only | CC+HTP | CC+EC | HTP+EC | Triple | |||
| N | 3294 (100.0) | 2652 (80.5) | 116 (3.5) | 70 (2.1) | 164 (5.0) | 212 (6.4) | 10 (0.3) | 70 (2.1) | |
| Sex | 0.002 | ||||||||
| Male | 2415 (73.3) | 1986 (74.9) | 73 (62.9) | 49 (70.0) | 116 (70.7) | 142 (67.0) | 6 (60.0) | 43 (61.4) | |
| Female | 879 (26.7) | 666 (25.1) | 43 (37.1) | 21 (30.0) | 48 (29.3) | 70 (33.0) | 4 (40.0) | 27 (38.6) | |
| Age (years) | <0.001 | ||||||||
| 15–29 | 695 (21.1) | 461 (17.4) | 14 (12.1) | 32 (45.7) | 39 (23.8) | 113 (53.3) | 2 (20.0) | 34 (48.6) | |
| 30–39 | 952 (28.9) | 695 (26.2) | 61 (52.6) | 25 (35.7) | 80 (48.8) | 61 (28.8) | 5 (50.0) | 25 (35.7) | |
| 40–49 | 810 (24.6) | 698 (26.3) | 30 (25.9) | 9 (12.9) | 36 (22.0) | 27 (12.7) | 1 (10.0) | 9 (12.9) | |
| 50 or more | 837 (25.4) | 798 (30.1) | 11 (9.5) | 4 (5.7) | 9 (5.5) | 11 (5.2) | 2 (20.0) | 2 (2.9) | |
| Education | <0.001 | ||||||||
| Secondary or below | 1952 (59.3) | 1700 (64.1) | 48 (41.4) | 30 (42.9) | 54 (32.9) | 87 (41.0) | 6 (60.0) | 27 (38.6) | |
| Tertiary | 1342 (40.7) | 952 (35.9) | 68 (58.6) | 40 (57.1) | 110 (67.1) | 125 (59.0) | 4 (40.0) | 43 (61.4) | |
| Marital status | <0.001 | ||||||||
| Single | 1260 (38.3) | 910 (34.3) | 46 (39.7) | 43 (61.4) | 78 (47.6) | 133 (62.7) | 3 (30.0) | 47 (67.1) | |
| Married | 1793 (54.4) | 1523 (57.4) | 64 (55.2) | 25 (35.7) | 81 (49.4) | 73 (34.4) | 6 (60.0) | 21 (30.0) | |
| Divorced/widowed | 241 (7.3) | 219 (8.3) | 6 (5.2) | 2 (2.9) | 5 (3.0) | 6 (2.8) | 1 (10.0) | 2 (2.9) | |
| Household income (HK$) | <0.001 | ||||||||
| <20 000 | 580 (18.6) | 515 (20.5) | 8 (7.1) | 4 (6.2) | 14 (8.9) | 31 (15.6) | 2 (20.0) | 6 (9.2) | |
| 20 000–39 999 | 1190 (38.1) | 975 (38.8) | 46 (40.7) | 22 (33.8) | 51 (32.5) | 69 (34.7) | 2 (20.0) | 25 (38.5) | |
| ≥40 000 | 1350 (43.3) | 1021 (40.7) | 59 (52.2) | 39 (60.0) | 92 (58.6) | 99 (49.7) | 6 (60.0) | 34 (52.3) | |
| Exhaled carbon monoxide levels (ppm)† | <0.001 | ||||||||
| Sample size (n) | 780 | 491 | 70 | 15 | 97 | 60 | 7 | 40 | |
| Median (25th, 75th centiles) | 14.0 (6.0, 22.0) | 18.0 (12.0, 26.0) | 3.5 (2.8, 5.0) | 3.0 (2.0, 3.0) | 6.0 (3.0, 15.0) | 11.0 (5.3, 17.0) | 4.0 (2.0, 5.0) | 8.5 (3.3, 18.5) | |
| Saliva cotinine level‡ | 0.81 | ||||||||
| Sample size (n) | 620 | 426 | 44 | 8 | 68 | 50 | 4 | 20 | |
| Median (25th, 75th centiles) | 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) | 3.0 (3.0, 4.0) | 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) | 3.5 (2.3, 4.0) | 4.0 (2.0, 4.0) | 3.5 (2.0, 4.0) | 4.0 (1.8, 4.8) | 4.0 (2.0, 4.0) | |
US$1=HK$7.8.
*P value was based on χ2 test.
†The exhaled carbon monoxide levels are expressed in ppm, with 0–6 ppm indicating no smoking and >6 ppm suggesting smoking (7–9 ppm: borderline; 10–15 ppm: mild addiction; 16–25 ppm: moderate addiction; 26+ ppm: heavy addiction).
‡The saliva cotinine levels of 0–6 correspond to saliva cotinine concentrations of 0–10 (indicating non-users of tobacco products), 10–30, 30–100, 100–200, 200–500, 500–1000 and 1000+ ng/mL, respectively.
CC, conventional cigarette; EC, electronic cigarette; HTP, heated tobacco product.