Electronic cigarettes and narghile users in Brazil: Do they differ from cigarettes smokers?

Background: Cigarette smoking prevalence is declining, however, other tobacco products have emerged recently, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and narghile (hookah/shisha/waterpipe). Narghile sales are not prohibited in Brazil, but e-cigarettes are. Accurate estimates of such products are key for proper monitoring and control.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of e-cigarettes and narghile use and to investigate whether sociodemographic characteristics of individuals who are using these products differ from those who are using manufactured cigarettes.

Methods: Using a nationally representative sample survey of Brazilians aged 12-65 years in 2015, we estimated the prevalence rates of each tobacco products within the last 12-months, stratified by macro-region, municipality size, sex-at-birth, sexual orientation, color/race, age-group, and monthly income. Multivariable logistic models were fitted to understand determinants of each tobacco product use, considering the complex sample design.

Results: E-cigarette, narghile, and cigarette prevalence rates were estimated at 0.43%, 1.65% and 15.35%, respectively, corresponding to around 0.6million e-cigarette users, 2.5 million narghile users and 23.5 million cigarette users. Non-heterosexual individuals were a most-at-risk group for both e-cigarette/narghile and cigarette use. Despite similarities, e-cigarette/narghile users were younger and had higher socioeconomic status than cigarette users. Additional analyses showed that recent cigarette use seems to be more associated with e-cigarette/narghile use among youth than among adults.

Conclusions: Our findings may provide valuable information about e-cigarette/narghile use in Brazil. Prevention strategies targeted to youth to both narghile and e-cigarettes use should be implemented together, which might be one strategy to prevent the emergency of a new generation of smokers in Brazil.