The Profile of E-cigarette Users: Results of An Online Survey in Taiwan

Abstract

E-cigarette is an emerging challenge for public health, including Taiwan. Our aim was to investigate the profiles of adulte-cigarette users in Taiwan, a country where there is currently very little information published about ecigarette users. We conducted a cross-sectional, on-line, self-administered, and anonymous survey between July and November 2017. Participants (n=119)used e-cigarettes for almost two years on average, and used daily (84.9%), nicotine-containing e-cigarettes (74.8%), the average nicotine level was about 9 mg/ml. Smoking cessation and the perception of less harm were the main reasons for using e-cigarettes. Single users, compared with dual users, were more likely to endorse that “e-cigarette could help smoking cessation”, and that “e-cigarettes are less toxic than combustible cigarettes.”Our findings offer novel insights into the characteristic and behaviors of a specific sample of vapers in Taiwan, and can help generate hypotheses that can later be tested in representative samples of e-cigarette users.