College-educated dual users of both traditional cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems like e-cigarettes are more likely to quit smoking than less-educated dual users and smokers who exclusively smoke cigarettes, according to a new study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
For the study, researchers analyzed information collected from a survey of more than 1,200 smokers. The team found that smokers without college degrees were less likely to use ENDS in addition to traditional cigarettes. Researchers also found that smokers who did use ENDS were more likely to have attempted to quit in the last year and reported higher levels overall intention to quit smoking.
"Among dual users, having a college degree was associated with high intention to quit smoking and attempting to quit in the past year," said Michael Eriksen, professor and dean of the School of Public Health at Georgia State in Atlanta and one of the study's authors. "This study highlights patterns in ENDS use that may increase the socioeconomic gap in smoking prevalence...If ENDS use proves to be helpful for smoking cessation among long-term smokers, then interventions to improve access to ENDS among minority smokers and those with low levels of education may be needed."
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