3.4 percent of U.S. workers are current e-cigarette users

About 3.4 percent of U.S. workers are current electronic cigarette users, and about half also currently use combustible tobacco products, according to research published in the March 5 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Girija Syamlal, M.B.B.S., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed 2017 to 2018 National Health Interview Survey data for adults aged 18 years and older who were employed during the week before the interview to estimate the recent national prevalence of e-cigarette use.

The researchers found that 3.4 percent of the estimated 156 million U.S. workers were current e-cigarette users (every day or some days), and about half also currently used combustible tobacco products. Men, non-Hispanic Whites, those aged 18 to 24 years, those with no health insurance, those reporting poor or fair physical health, and those who currently used other tobacco products had the highest current e-cigarette use. Individuals working in the accommodation and food services industry and in food preparation and serving-related occupations had the highest prevalence of e-cigarette use.

"Implementing targeted workplace interventions that help prevent initiation of tobacco product use and that encourage cessation of all tobacco products among current users can help improve overall worker health," the authors write.

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