Student Attitudes and Perceptions About E-cigarettes and a Tobacco-free Campus Policy at a Kentucky University

E-cigarettes have rapidly entered the US marketplace and are being consumed by persons of all ages, primarily by current smokers, especially young adults. It is important to identify and explain the attitudes and perceptions about these products and their use among university students given that many new ideas and trends emerge on college campuses. At the same time tobacco-free campus policies are becoming prevalent across the country, as the environmental effects of tobacco become more understood. We used a cross-sectional study design to characterize the attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of a randomly selected group of university students attending undergraduate general studies courses through an in-class paper survey. Data were collected from 523 respondents during October 2014. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess factors associated with support for a tobacco-free campus policy as well as factors associated with current e-cigarette use. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that female gender was associated with less e-cigarette use (OR = 0.49; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.26 – 0.94); whereas cigarette smoking (OR = 13.62; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.06 – 26.27), having two parents that smoked (OR = 3.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.75 – 8.05), and having a Greek-life affiliation (OR = 2.9; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.31 – 6.45) were associated with any e-cigarette use in the past 30 days. This analysis provides quantifiable evidence of target audiences on the university campus for health promotion.