| Summary: | Background
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in China. Any comprehensive strategies to reduce tobacco use in China need to increase smoking cessation among current smokers. While the evidence is limited, ENDS may reduce the health risks for current smokers if they switch completely to ENDS. ENDS have the potential of reducing harms of tobacco smoking if Chinese smokers who do not intent to quit can switch completely to ENDS. To systematically assess the awareness and use of ENDS among Chinese adults, Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS) was conducted in twelve Chinese cities from 2014 to 2016.
Methods
Citywide
representative surveys were conducted in 12 Chinese cities between 2014 and
2016. The target population was noninstitutionalized urban adults age 15 and
above. Multistage cluster sampling was applied to select 2,500 individuals
from each city. SAS and R were used to obtain point estimates and adjusted
associations accounting for the complex sample design features.
Results
Awareness
of ENDS was above 40% in all 12 cities, the percent of respondents who have
heard about ENDS ranging from 41.3% (Qingdao) to 63.2% (Xi'an). The overall rate of ever use
ENDS was 2.9%, and the overall rate of current use was 0.9%. In addition,
across most cities, awareness of ENDS were statistically significantly
associated with current smoking, being male, aging 25-34, and having higher
education.
Conclusions
Significant
variations existed in awareness and use of ENDS among urban Chinese adults.
Tailored interventions, as part of a comprehensive tobacco control and cessation
strategy, which
may include ENDS in assisting smokers in achieving complete cessation, may have
a positive public health impact in China. In addition, nation-wide surveillance
is needed to monitor the use of ENDS among both adult smokers and among
adolescents and young adults, with an emphasis on the complete abstinence
from any nicotine product among adolescents.
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