Tobacco Dependence Greater for Cigarette-Dominant Tobacco Users

THURSDAY, July 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Cigarette-dominant tobacco users have a higher level of tobacco dependence (TD), according to a study published online July 26 in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Lihua Li, Ph.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues examined tobacco use (TU) profiles and their associations with TD over time among 3,463 adult recent tobacco users. TU profiles were identified by applying a latent class analysis based on participants' usage of eight common tobacco product groups at each of waves 1 to 4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study.

The researchers identified three distinct TU profiles that remained consistent across the four survey waves: dominant cigarette users; polyusers with a high propensity of using traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and cigars; and dominant smokeless product users (62 to 68 percent; 24 to 31 percent; and 7 to 9 percent, respectively). Compared with dominant cigarette users, TD was significantly lower among polyusers and dominant smokeless users.

"As individuals may change their habits over time, future studies should examine patterns of tobacco use changes, including whether people's changing habits differ by sociodemographic factors, and we should investigate how these changes impact tobacco dependency over time in the context of other smoking behaviors, including attempting to quit, relapse, and smoking cessation," Li said in a statement.

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