Prevalence of e-cigarette use among tobacco smokers in six states and regions of Myanmar

Ye Phyo; Ajay M V Kumar; Khine Wut Yee Kyaw; Kyaw Kan Kaung; Mya Lay Nwe; Thida; Tharaphi

doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100248

Prevalence of e-cigarette use among tobacco smokers in six states and regions of Myanmar

Addict Behav Rep. 2020 Jan 17:11:100248. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100248. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Ye Phyo¹, Ajay M V Kumar^{2

3

4}, Khine Wut Yee Kyaw^{2

5}, Kyaw Kan Kaung⁶, Mya Lay Nwe¹, Thida⁷, Tharaphi⁸

Affiliations

¹ National Tobacco Control Programme, Ministry of Health and Sports, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
² International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France.
³ International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, South-East Asia Office, New Delhi, India.
⁴ Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya (deemed to be University), Mangaluru, India.
⁵ International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Mandalay, Myanmar.
⁶ Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health and Sports, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
⁷ Department of Medical Research (Pyin Oo Lwin), Ministry of Health and Sports, Myanmar.
⁸ International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Singapore.

Abstract

Background: Emergence of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in the past decade has the potential to undermine the global tobacco control efforts and undo the successes achieved to date. There are also concerns that e-cigarettes may become a gateway for future tobacco use and its use is increasing globally. There is no published evidence on this issue from Myanmar. Hence, we aimed to assess prevalence of e-cigarette use among tobacco smokers and its associated socio-demographic factors in six states and regions of Myanmar.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a programme evaluation conducted by the National Tobacco Control Programme of Myanmar in 2018, which involved sampling 100 smokers from each state/region. We used modified Poisson regression to measure associations.

Results: There were 629 tobacco smokers included in the programme evaluation. Among them, 246 (39.2%, 95% CI: 24.0%-56.7%) smokers reported that they had heard of e-cigarettes and 73 (11.6%, 95% CI: 5.1%-24.3%) reported having ever used e-cigarettes. There was no e-cigarette use among female smokers. The prevalence of e-cigarette use was significantly higher among males, students, young adults aged 18-29 years, heavy smokers (greater than 20 cigarettes per day) and those who lived in the Mandalay region.

Conclusion: Our study provides preliminary evidence about e-cigarette use in Myanmar and fills an important knowledge gap. One limitation was small sample size, which is reflected by wide confidence intervals around the estimate. We recommend a national survey to obtain precise and nationally representative information.

Keywords: ENDS; ENNDS; Electronic nicotine delivery systems; Electronic non-nicotine delivery systems; Heat-not-burn smoking devices; Vaping products; e-Hookah; e-Liquid.