Use of multiple types of tobacco products among young adults

A variety of new tobacco products such as snus and hookah have emerged in recent years, adding to the potential for abuse and addiction. Little is known about the prevalence of use of these products or the characteristics of users. Using data from a population-based sample of 2,624 young adults (ages 20-27) collected in 2010-2011, we assessed prevalence of use of various tobacco products. We also used latent class analyses to characterize groups of young adults based on patterns of use of traditional and new tobacco products, and examined differences by demographics and other substance use. We found that 34% report ever using hookah, 15% ever used snus, 7% ever used electronic-cigarettes, and 30% ever used cigarillos. We identified four groups: the largest (61%) is characterized as “abstainers” with no or little use of any tobacco; 17% are in a group characterized by use of many types of tobacco (“poly-users”); 16% are characterized as primarily using cigarillos and hookah; and members of the smallest group (7%) tend to smoke cigarettes only. Members of the poly-user group were more likely to be male and those in the abstainer and cigarette-only groups were more likely to be female. Members of the poly-user and cigarette-only groups were more likely than other groups to report past-month marijuana use and binge drinking in past two weeks. More detailed results will be presented. The clustering of young adults based on use of various tobacco products can help to identify risk factors and develop targeted interventions.