Use of Electronic Cigarettes in European Populations: A Narrative Review

Abstract

The increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes in past decades has aroused public health concern. This study aims to review the literature on the prevalence of e-cigarette use among the general adult and young populations in Europe. We searched Medline and Google Scholar from September 2019, and included “prevalence of e-cigarettes”, “electronic cigarettes” or “e-cigarettes”, and “electronic nicotine delivery system” or “vaping”. The prevalence of current e-cigarette use ranged from 0.2% to 27%, ever-use ranged from 5.5% to 56.6% and daily use ranged from 1% to 2.9%. Current smokers of conventional cigarettes showed the highest prevalence for the use of e-cigarettes, ranging from 20.4% to 83.1%, followed by ex-smokers, with ranges from 7% to 15%. The following socio-demographic factors were associated with a higher chance of using e-cigarettes: male sex and younger age groups; results for economic status were inconclusive. In European countries, there is a higher prevalence of e-cigarette use among males, adolescents and young adults, smokers of conventional cigarettes, and former smokers.

Intention to lose weight and use of electronic cigarettes among adolescents

“…Among U.S. high school students for example, e-cigarette use increased by over 900% between 2011 and 2018, from 1.5% to nearly 21%, and increased by 78% from 2017 to 2018 ( Cullen et al, 2018 , US Department of Health and Human Services, 2016 ). These trends parallel those seen in other Western countries, according to survey data from Canada and 28 European countries ( Cole et al, 2020 , Kapan et al, 2020 , Laverty et al, 2018 ). In 2016, the U.S.…”

The Acute Effects of Electronic Cigarette Vaping and Tobacco Cigarette Smoking on Choroidal Thickness in Young, Healthy, Habitual, Dual Smokers

“…Smoking constitutes a public health issue whereas EC use has increased substantially during the last years, since they have been promoted as a harm reduction strategy in TCs smokers [ 2 , 3 ]. Popularity of ECs raises concerns about their safety due to the lack of long-term studies.…”

“…Actually, ECs are promoted as a safe alternative to traditional TC and are even proposed as a smoking-cessation method through the use of low nicotine or nicotine-free e-liquids. Interestingly, in their majority, EC users are concurrently TCs smokers and are characterized as dual smokers [ 2 ]. The prevalence of EC use in the United States is estimated to be 3–4% [ 3 ] while in Europe it is estimated to be 0.2–27% [ 2 ].…”

Assessment of the potential vaping-related exposure to carbonyls and epoxides using stable isotope-labeled precursors in the e-liquid

“…The use of e-cigarettes (ECs) has increased over the past several years (Beard et al 2020;Cullen et al 2019;Dai and Leventhal 2019;Kapan et al 2020). As use of ECs become more prevalent, it becomes more important to understand the potential exposure to harmful chemicals during use of these products.…”