Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) in Poland in 2019

Abstract

Background: The introduction of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) was suspected to be a factor disrupting the stable decline in the nicotine and tobacco market in Poland. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 on a representative sample of 1077 Polish adults aged 18 years and used face-to-face interviews. ENDS use was analysed from respondents aged 20 years and older by gender, age, place of residence and education. Calculations were done using IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Results: Only 3.0% of men and 0.7% of women in Poland were daily (regular) ENDS users in 2019, while 1.6% of men and 0.7% of women were occasional users. The vast majority of respondents (97%) declared that they did not use ENDS at all. ENDS use was most prevalent in the youngest age group (5.3% in men, 1.3% in women), and in urban than rural areas (4.1% of men and 0.9% of women in urban areas vs 1.5% of men and 0.5% of women in rural areas), in men with a secondary education (4.3%), and in women with a primary education (1.2%). Three percent of men (3.1%) were daily (regular) dual users of conventional cigarettes and ENDS, and 3.5% of men using conventional cigarettes used ENDS in exceptional situations (occasionally). Conclusions: Our study showed that despite a decline in conventional cigarette smoking, the prevalence of ENDS use among adults in Poland is low and it did not increase in the recent years. This stands in contrast with research showing that Poland has some of the highest rates of ENDS use among children. However, the system of monitoring of ENDS use in Poland needs to be improved, as the existing data for Poland remains scattered, of poor quality, and based on small samples.