Comparison of E-Cigarette Use among Menthol and Non-Menthol Smokers: Findings from a Community Based Sample

<p class="Pa6"><strong>Objective: </strong>E-cigarette use is increasing among adult cigarette smokers. With the availability and variety of appealing charac­teristics, including menthol flavor, e-ciga­rette use patterns may differ among menthol and non-menthol cigarette smokers. This study compared e-cigarette knowledge and use between current menthol and non-menthol smokers aged ≥18 years.</p><p class="Pa6"><strong>Design: </strong>Current adult cigarette smokers (N=223; <em>M</em>=42.1 years; <em>SD</em>=12.2; 68% menthol smokers) recruited in South Florida completed an interviewer-administered sur­vey via telephone during June to November 2014.</p><p class="Pa6"><strong>Main Outcome Measures: </strong>E-cigarette use (ever-use, past 30-day use, past 30-day flavored e-cigarette use, and past 30-day mentholated e-cigarette use), consideration of e-cigarette use for quitting/reduction of cigarettes, and knowledge assessments. Bivariate and multivariate analyses tested associations with menthol smoking.</p><p class="Pa6"><strong>Results: </strong>Menthol smokers were more likely to be African American or Hispanic (P&lt;.001) and report lower income (P=.02) and education (P&lt;.001) than non-menthol smokers. Adjusted analyses found no as­sociation between menthol cigarette use and e-cigarette ever-use. However, menthol smokers demonstrated less e-cigarette knowledge (P&lt;.01) and were more likely to consider using e-cigarettes to quit/re­duce smoking (AOR=3.89, CI:1.55-9.78). Among ever-users, there was no association between menthol cigarette use and past 30-day e-cigarette use, yet menthol smokers were more likely to use menthol flavored e-cigarettes (AOR=6.65, CI: 1.94-12.78).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings suggest that, compared with current non-menthol smokers, current menthol smokers are more likely to consider using e-cigarettes to help quit/reduce smoking, and are more likely to use menthol flavored e-cigarettes. Further research is needed to better ex­amine low e-cigarette knowledge among menthol smokers, which may represent an important intervention target.</p><p><em>Ethn Dis. </em>2018;28(3):153-160; doi:10.18865/ ed.28.3.153.</p>