Electronic nicotine delivery system flavors, devices, and brands used by adults in the United States who smoke and formerly smoked in 2022: Findings from the United States International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey

Objective: This study estimated prevalence of current electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) used by US adults who smoked cigarettes or formerly smoked in 2022 and assessed ENDS flavors, devices, and brands used most often.

Methods: Data are from the 2022 US ITC Smoking and Vaping Survey. Respondents were recruited from a web panel of a nationally representative sample of US adults ages 18+ who smoked, formerly smoked, and/or vaped ENDS. Using weighted data, we estimated prevalence of current vaping among adults who smoke or formerly smoked (N = 2,016). Among the subset who vaped (n = 554), we assessed flavors and devices used most often. Using unweighted data, we assessed the frequency (count) of reported brands used most often.

Results: In 2022, 22.0 % of US adults who smoked or formerly smoked were vaping at least monthly. A significantly higher proportion of adults who formerly smoked and/or were younger (18-39) were vaping than adults who were smoking and/or were older (40+) (both p < 0.001). Tank devices were used most often (34.7 %), followed by disposables (27.4 %), pre-filled pods/cartridges (23.0 %), and refillable pods/cartridges (14.9 %). The five most commonly used flavors were fruit (33.9 %), tobacco (20.1 %), menthol (12.2 %), candy/sweets (10.8 %), and mixed ice flavors (10.0 %). The top 5 brands were JUUL, Smok, Vuse, Geekvape, and Blu.

Conclusions: In 2022, a majority of adults who smoked cigarettes or who had quit smoking used a variety of flavors and devices that go beyond the choices that FDA currently has authorized for sale.