• Becky Freeman, Katherine Owen, Sandra Rickards, Alecia Brooks, Philip J Clare, and Anita Dessaix.
• Sydney School of Public Health, the University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
• Med. J. Aust. 2023 Feb 20; 218 (3): 131137131-137.

ObjectiveTo examine e-cigarette use by adults who smoke or have recently quit, and demographic characteristics associated with their use; to assess reasons for using e-cigarettes.DesignThe Cancer Institute NSW Tobacco Tracking Survey (CITTS) is an ongoing, serial, cross-sectional telephone survey study (40 interviews each week). This report is based on interviews during 4 January 2016 - 31 December 2020.Setting, ParticipantsRandomly selected New South Wales adults who are current smokers (smoked cigarettes, pipes, or other tobacco products daily, weekly, or less often) or recent quitters (smoked tobacco products in the past twelve months but who no longer smoked).Main OutcomesE-cigarette use by age group; reasons for using e-cigarettes.ResultsCITTS callers rang 1 494 233 randomly selected numbers; in 203 203 answered calls (13.6%), 11 125 people were eligible for the survey (5.5% of answered calls), of whom 10 004 completed the survey interview, including the question about whether they used e-cigarettes (89.9%). Overall e-cigarette use increased from 6.6% of respondents in 2016 to 13.0% in 2020 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.47-2.36). The proportion of respondents aged 18-24 years who reported e-cigarette use increased from 18.4% (95% CI, 12.9-23.9%) in 2018 to 27.2% (95% CI, 20.5-33.9%) in 2020, a larger proportion than for any other age group. The leading reasons offered for e-cigarette use were "to help me quit smoking" (33%; 95% CI, 30-37%) and "to cut down on the number of cigarettes I smoke" (25%; 95% CI, 22-28%).ConclusionThe increase between 2016 and 2020 in the proportions of young adults who smoke or have recently quit who use e-cigarettes undermines claims that these products are designed for older smokers who have struggled to quit using other methods.© 2022 The Authors. Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd.

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