Flavoured non-cigarette tobacco product use among US adults: 2013–2014

• Published in: Tobacco control 2016-11, Vol.25 (Suppl 2), p.ii4-ii13
• Main Authors: Bonhomme, Michèle G, Holder-Hayes, Enver, Ambrose, Bridget K, Tworek, Cindy, Feirman, Shari P, King, Brian A, Apelberg, Benjamin J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Bivariate analysis; Chocolate; Cigarette smoking; Cigarettes; Cigars; Confectionery; Demographics; Electronic cigarettes; Federal regulation; Flavor; Flavors; Fruits; Hispanic people; Menthol; Minors; Pipes; Public health; Secondary school students; Smoking; Tobacco; Tobacco industry; Trends; Young adults
• ISSN: 0964-4563; 1468-3318
• DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053373

IntroductionLimited data exist on flavoured non-cigarette tobacco product (NCTP) use among US adults.MethodsData from the 2013 to 2014 National Adult Tobacco Survey (N=75 233), a landline and cellular telephone survey of US adults aged ≥18, were assessed to estimate past 30-day NCTP use, flavoured NCTP use and flavour types using bivariate analyses.ResultsDuring 2013–2014, 14.4% of US adults were past 30-day NCTP users. Nationally, an estimated 10.2 million e-cigarette users (68.2%), 6.1 million hookah users (82.3%), 4.1 million cigar smokers (36.2%) and 4.0 million smokeless tobacco users (50.6%) used flavoured products in the past 30 days. The most prevalent flavours reported were menthol/mint (76.9%) for smokeless tobacco; fruit (74.0%) for hookah; fruit (52.4%), candy/chocolate/other sweet flavours (22.0%) and alcohol (14.5%) for cigars/cigarillos/filtered little cigars; fruit (44.9%), menthol/mint (43.9%) and candy/chocolate/other sweet flavours (25.7%) for e-cigarettes and fruit (56.6%), candy/chocolate/other sweet flavours (26.5%) and menthol/mint (24.8%) for pipes. Except for hookah and pipes, past 30-day flavoured product use was highest among 18–24-year olds. By cigarette smoking, never smoking e-cigarette users (84.8%) were more likely to report flavoured e-cigarette use, followed by recent former smokers (78.1%), long-term former smokers (70.4%) and current smokers (63.2%).ConclusionsFlavoured NCTP use is prominent among US adult tobacco users, particularly among e-cigarette, hookah and cigar users. Flavoured product use, especially fruit and sweet-flavoured products, was higher among younger adults. It is important for tobacco prevention and control strategies to address all forms of tobacco use, including flavoured tobacco products.