Racial and Ethnic Differences in E-Cigarette and Cigarette Use Among Adolescents

This study examined whether e-cigarette/cigarette use status would differ by student race/ethnicity. Using the 2017 Youth risk behavior survey (YRBS), weighted Chi-square tests with Rao-Scott adjustments and adjusted weighted multinomial logistic regression analysis were conducted to examine the relationship. Weighted Chi-square tests showed that American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students had the highest prevalence rates among dual users (16.2%) and e-cigarette only users (11.3%), while White peers had the highest prevalence rates among cigarette only users (3.5%). The results of weighted multinomial logistic regression indicated that AI/AN students had higher odds than White peers of being dual users (Relative risk ratio (RRR), 2.10, 95% CI, 1.01, 4.39), while Black, Hispanic, Asian and multi-racial groups had lower odds than White peers of being dual users. Additionally, Asian students had lower odds than White students of being e-cigarette only users, whereas Black and Asian students had lower odds than their White peers of being cigarette only users. Given that AI/AN students are most vulnerable to e-cigarette/cigarette use, there should be comprehensive tobacco prevention and intervention approaches that could narrow racial/ethnic differences among both youths and adults at population level.