Tobacco Disparities Among California Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations: Factors Related to Electronic Smoking Devices and Cigarette Use

Associations between sociodemographic factors and both e-cigarette use and cigarette use were examined to understand differences in smoking device choice among racial and ethnic minority populations. Distress and life satisfaction represent the main independent variables. The present study compared 8,451 racial and ethnic minority adults from the 2018 California Health Interview Survey. Distress significantly increased both e-cigarette use, OR = 1.94, 95% CI [1.35, 2.80], and cigarette use, OR = 1.67, 95% CI [1.21, 2.30]. Life satisfaction significantly decreased both e-cigarette use, OR = 0.59, 95% CI [0.46, 0.75], and cigarette use, OR = 0.83, 95% CI [0.70, 0.99]. Further research is needed to explore culturally appropriate protective and risk factors for targeted programming.