Association Between Age, Electronic Cigarette Use in Vehicles, and User Health Perceptions: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract

Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) have been increasingly popular over the past decade, especially with youth and young adults. Despite the lack of knowledge regarding the long-term health effects of ECIGs, we have seen the most use there has ever been in recent years. Additionally, the information regarding ECIG use in vehicles and the behaviors and attitudes towards use in vehicles is nascent. In this study, perceptions of ECIG use and user behavior within vehicles were analyzed in four different age groups — users who were aged 18-24, 25-44, 45-64, and 65+ years old. Study findings suggest associations between the four age groups, harm perceptions, and ECIG use inside of vehicle behaviors. For example, the youngest age group (18-24) was less likely to report using ECIGs in vehicles, while the age group 25-44 used ECIGs in vehicles more than other groups. This pattern continued, with the age group of 25-44 year-olds being more likely to use ECIGs in vehicles in the presence of children and other adults and being most likely relative to other age groups to report “Little or No Harm” when answering items about their personal ECIG harm perceptions. The age group of 18-24 year-olds had the highest harm perceptions of secondhand ECIG aerosols than any other age group despite being the age group with the highest ECIG use rates in the US. Understanding the perceptions and ECIG use behaviors in vehicles, especially how they pertain to reported differences associated with age, can help inform policymakers as well as help to develop effective communication strategies for anti-vaping campaigns to target and identify vulnerable demographics.