E-cigarette use among Polish students: findings from the 2016 Poland Global Youth Tobacco Survey

Abstract

Use of e-cigarettes has increased dramatically in recent years around the world. The aim of this study is to provide comprehensive national estimates of e-cigarette and tobacco use among Polish youth. A national, representative school-based cross-sectional survey among students was conducted in 2016 in Poland within the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, using a standard self-administered questionnaire, sample design and data collection protocol. A total of 5,154 eligible students (51.6% boys and 48.4% girls) aged between 11-17 years completed the survey. Among them 26.9% (31.5% of boys and 21.8% of girls) were current (use at least once in the past 30 days) e-cigarette users and 20.5% (21% of boys and 19.9% of girls) were current cigarette smokers. Fourteen percent of students were dual users of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Both cigarette and e-cigarette use increased with age, rural residence, having more pocket money, and having parents or close friends who smoke. There was also a strong correlation between use of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Current e-cigarette use was 68.7% among current cigarette smokers, while current cigarette use was 54.8% among current e-cigarette users. Daily cigarette smoking among youth has decreased substantially in Poland from 24% in 1998 to 4.8% in 2016 in boys, and from 14.4% to 3.6% in girls. However, the rapid rise in e-cigarette use poses a potential danger of reversing the tobacco use trend. Continued monitoring is needed to track the use of e-ciga-rettes and their impact on conventional cigarette use among youth in Poland.