BACKGROUND: Nicotine in electronic cigarettes can harm brain development up to the age of 25 years. Little is known about electronic cigarette use among young adults aged 15-24 (YA) in the Philippines in recent years. This study describes changes in current electronic cigarette use (CECU) between 2015 and 2021 among YA in the Philippines.
METHODS: The Global Adult Tobacco Survey provides nationally representative estimates of tobacco use and related indicators for adults aged ≥15 years. The YA analytic sample was 2.338 in 2015 and 3.759 in 2021. Adjusted prevalence (AP) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for CECU. Significant AP point differences (APPD) (p<0.05) between 2015 and 2021 were determined for marginal effect contrasts in multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for multiple factors.
RESULTS: AP of CECU among YA increased from 0.5% (95% CI: 0.3-1.0) in 2015 to 4.6% (95% CI: 3.5-6.0) in 2021 (APPD=4.1; p<0.05). CECU among YA who currently used tobacco significantly increased from 3.0% (95% CI: 1.5-6.0) to 16.4% (95% CI: 11.1-23.7) (APPD=13.4; p<0.05). Significant increases were noted among men (1.0% to 8.3% [APPD=7.3]), YA aged 21-24 years (0.9% to 8.2% [APPD=7.3]), urban residents (0.8% to 6.4% [APPD=5.6]), YA with secondary education (0.4% to 5.5% [APPD=5.1]), low wealth index (0.8% to 2.7% [APPD=1.9]) and high wealth index (1.0% to 7.5% [APPD=6.5]), YA who believe smoking causes serious diseases (0.6% to 4.3% [APPD=3.8]), YA who were exposed (0.7% to 4.2% [APPD=3.4]) and not exposed (0.4% to 5.1% [APPD=4.8]) to tobacco advertisement, promotions, and sponsorship, and YA who noticed (0.6% to 4.6% [APPD=4.0]) and did not notice (0.3% to 4.6% [APPD=4.4]) any anti-tobacco information.
CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of CECU has increased from 2015 to 2021 overall and in certain population subgroups of YA. Understanding the changes in CECU may inform tailored tobacco control strategies and policies for reducing use among YA.