Reasons to quit cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and smokeless nicotine products: A cross-sectional study among Danish people aged 15-29 years.

Abstract

Introduction: Following the increased use of e-cigarettes and smokeless nicotine products among Danish youth, the proportion of youth wishing to quit or already had attempted to quit has increased too. To adapt cessation services, knowledge is needed about youth self-reported reasons to quit and whether reasons differ across nicotine products.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study carried out from September to November 2023, using age and gender-weighted questionnaire data, 2228 Danish youth aged 15-29 years, that had attempted to quit one or more nicotine product (cigarettes, e-cigarettes or smokeless nicotine) were included. Differences in self-reported reasons across products used were assessed using unadjusted logistic regression. A supplementary interaction analysis, using quit success as the interacting variable, and unadjusted logistic regressions stratified by quit success, were performed to assess the role of quit success on the most reported reasons.

Results: 'Thoughts about health' and 'Don't want to be addicted' were the most frequently reported reasons to quit cigarettes (51.5% and 39.1%, respectively), e-cigarettes (38.8% and 33.6%, respectively) and smokeless nicotine (61.3% and 60.3%, respectively). However, prevalences varied between products. 'Due to economics' was the third most prevalent reason among youth who had attempted to quit cigarettes (29.0%) and smokeless nicotine (40.7%), whereas this was 'Switching to another product' among those who had attempted to quit e-cigarettes (21.5%). Quit success significantly modified the reporting of 'People I know privately' as reason for quit attempt, across the products.

Conclusions: Counselors, parents, and those developing new interventions should consider health and addiction concerns as reasons for wanting to quit among youth, and must be aware of different reasons for quitting different products. Further studies are needed to verify the present findings and their interpretation related to intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural issues.