More than twice as many adult smokers used electronic cigarettes in 2011 as in 2010, according to investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 21% of current smokers used electronic cigarettes at least once in 2011. The data come from Web-based surveys in 2010 and 2011 and one mail-based survey in 2010. For 2010, smokers’ use of e-cigarettes was 9.8% in the Web survey and 6.8% in the mail survey, said Brian A. King, Ph.D., and his associates at the CDC.
Among all adults, reported use of e-cigarettes was 6.2% in the 2011 survey, compared with 3.3% for the 2010 Web survey and 2.1% for the 2010 mail survey, they reported (Nicotine Tob. Res. 2013 Feb. 28 [doi:10.1093/ntr/ntt013]).
Among former smokers, e-cigarette use was 7.4% in the 2011 survey, 2.5% in the 2010 Web survey, and 0.6% in the 2010 mail survey. There was, however, "no significant difference in ever use of e-cigarettes ... by sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, or U.S. region" in any of the surveys, the investigators wrote.
Sample sizes were 4,050 for the 2011 Web survey, 2,505 for the 2010 Web survey, and 4,184 for the 2010 mail survey. Both Web-based surveys were conducted by Knowledge Networks; the mail-based survey was conducted by Synovate. Dr. King and his associates did not declare any financial conflicts of interest.
