A recent study assessed the Quality of Life (QOL) of college students who use e-cigarettes and compared it to that of students who do not. Over 1,000 students completed an online survey that measured their tobacco use, e-cigarette use, and QOL.

The data indicated that 6.97% of the participants used e-cigarettes, either alone or along with traditional cigarettes. It was shown that male students were more likely than females to use e-cigarettes, and students who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual were more likely to use traditional cigarettes, either alone or with e-cigarettes.

When observing the QOL questionnaire data, it was seen that as QOL and overall wellbeing increased, the likelihood of being a tobacco user decreased. More specifically, higher perceived quality of life correlated to less likelihood to use traditional cigarettes, while psychological wellbeing decreased the chances of dual use of traditional and e-cigarettes. Additional research is needed to decipher relationships between the causes of these findings.

Take Away: As perceived Quality of Life and psychological wellbeing increases among college students, likelihood of using tobacco products decreases. E-cigarette use is more closely correlated to effects on psychological wellbeing.

Ridner, S.L., Keith, R.J., Walker, K., Hart, J.L., Newton, K.S., Crawford, T.N. (2018). Differences is quality of life among college student electronic cigarette users. AIMS Public Health Journal. doi.10.3934/publichealth.2018.4.454.