Table 1.
Prevalence of youth current ENDS use, overall and by device type, PATH Study Waves 4, 4.5, and 5 a.
| Unweighted N | Overall Prevalence Weighted % (95% CI:) |
Prevalence in Youth Not-Light Current ENDS Users with Known Device Type b
Weighted % (95% CI:) |
p-Value c (Rao-Scott χ2) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 4 | 14,793 d | |||
| Current use of ENDS e | 598 | 4.3 (3.9, 4.8) | – | |
| Closed systems | 238 | 1.7 (1.5, 2.1) | 51.9 (46.4, 57.4) | 0.490 |
| Open systems | 226 | 1.6 (1.4, 1.9) | 48.1 (42.6, 53.6) | |
| Wave 4.5 | 12,918 d | |||
| Current use of ENDS e | 869 | 6.8 (6.3, 7.3) | – | |
| Closed systems | 485 | 3.9 (3.5, 4.3) | 68.3 (63.9, 72.3) | <0.001 |
| Open systems | 239 | 1.8 (1.6, 2.1) | 31.7 (27.7, 36.1) | |
| Wave 5 | 11,976 d | |||
| Current use of ENDS e | 1083 | 8.6 (8.1, 9.1) | – | |
| Closed systems | 549 | 4.5 (4.1, 4.9) | 60.5 (56.8, 64.0) | <0.001 |
| A disposable device | 40 | 0.3 (0.2, 0.5) | 4.3 (3.1, 6.0) | |
| A device that uses replaceable prefilled cartridges | 509 | 4.2 (3.8, 4.6) | 56.1 (52.4, 59.9) | |
| Open systems | 391 | 3.0 (2.7, 3.3) | 39.5 (36.0, 43.2) | |
| A device with a tank that you refill with liquids | 328 | 2.5 (2.2, 2.8) | 33.3 (30.0, 36.7) | |
| A mod system | 63 | 0.5 (0.4, 0.6) | 6.3 (4.8, 8.1) |
a Current ENDS use is any ENDS use in the past 30 days. Not-light current ENDS users used ENDS more than once in their lifetime. For device type—Waves 4 and 4.5: Closed systems are devices that are not rechargeable, or devices that are rechargeable and use cartridges; open systems are devices that are rechargeable, do not use cartridges, and are refillable. Wave 5: Closed systems are disposable e-cigarettes or e-cigarettes that use pre-filled pods or cartridges; open systems are e-cigarettes with a refillable tank or mod systems. b Device type categorization includes not-light current ENDS users only (i.e., the primary analytic population). Very-light current ENDS users used ENDS only once in their lifetime. In Waves 4 and 4.5, very-light current ENDS users were not asked device type questions. In Wave 5, the device type question was asked of both very-light and not-light current ENDS users. Very-light current ENDS users (n = 118) in Wave 5 were excluded from the primary analyses of current ENDS users for comparability to earlier waves. c The one-way Rao-Scott chi-square is a goodness of fit test for the null hypothesis of equal proportions of open and closed systems in non-light current ENDS users with known device type at each wave. d Differences in the total youth interviewed at each wave and the sample sizes provided here are due to missing cross-sectional or single-wave weights at Wave 4 (n = 5), Wave 4.5 (n = 213), and Wave 5 (n = 122). Cross-sectional weights (Wave 4) were missing for youth in the continuing sample who were not in the civilian, non-institutionalized population at Wave 4. Single-wave weights (Waves 4.5 and 5) were missing for youth who responded at Wave 4, but not at Wave 4.5 or Wave 5, respectively. e Includes current ENDS users who were excluded from device type categorization: very-light ENDS users, and don’t know or refused and “other” responses. In Waves 4 and 4.5, “other” devices were rechargeable, did not use cartridges, but were not refillable. In Wave 5, the “other” response option was listed as “something else” and respondents were asked to specify a write-in response. In current ENDS users, the prevalence of those excluded from device type categorization was 22.5% (95% CI: 19.0, 26.4; n = 134) in Wave 4, 16.0% (95% CI: 13.7, 18.7; n = 145) in Wave 4.5, and 12.7% (95% CI: 10.8, 14.8; n = 143) in Wave 5. Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; ENDS = electronic nicotine delivery system; PATH = Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health.