The profile of electronic cigarette users in Turkey

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Data on electronic cigarette (e‑cigarette) use patterns are limited worldwide. This paperexamines user profile of e‑cigarettes in Turkey.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a descriptive study. E‑cigarette users (≥18 ages) in Turkeywere asked to participate in a web‑based survey. The participants provided information on their usehistory, patterns of e‑cigarette use, content of e‑liquid (amount of nicotine, types of food additives,kinds of products purchased, etc.), attitudes regarding the product, and information on the concurrentuse of classic cigarettes.RESULTS: The online questionnaire was completed by 480 e‑cigarette users. The results indicatedthat e‑cigarette users have high incomes (100%), previous smoking dependency (100%), and amean age of 35 ± 6, and the majority of them are male (99.2%). They use e‑cigarettes primarilyto quit smoking or to reduce the harm associated with smoking (65.4%, 11.1%, respectively).The e‑cigarette users (15.6%) intend to quit smoking by gradually reducing their e‑liquid nicotineconcentrations. The majority of them (76%) think that e‑cigarettes and e‑liquids could be harmfulto children. Of them, 46.6% used second‑generation e‑cigarettes and 53.3% used third‑generatione‑cigarettes with direct dripping.CONCLUSION: This study is the first description of the attitudes and use of e‑cigarette users inTurkey. Results show that most of the users began to use e‑cigarettes in order to quit smoking.According to the study findings, we propose an urgent need for an evaluation by health authoritiesfor e‑cigarette use and smoking cessation.