Abstract B38: Factors associated with little cigar and cigarillo use among college students
Authors: Sterling Kymberle L. , Berg Carla J. , Thomas Akilah N. 
Published: June 2012

Introduction: While cigarette smoking has declined among youth in the United States in the past decade, use of other tobacco products, such as little cigars and cigarillos, has increased. From 1997–2007, little cigar consumption in the United States increased by 240%, and cigarillo consumption increased by 150%. Growing qualitative evidence suggests that little cigars and cigarillo smoking is popular among young adults. Evidence suggests that little cigar and cigarillo smoking is addictive and contains as many carcinogens as cigarette smoking; understanding factors associated with its use is important. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of use of these types of cigars, termed “small cigars,” among a sample of young adults attending colleges and universities in the southeast United States. We compared small cigar users (i.e., users of either little cigars or cigarillos) to nonusers on demographic, tobacco and substance use, and psychosocial variables.

Methods: Students attending six colleges in the southeastern United States were recruited to complete an online survey. Random samples of 5,000 students at each school were invited to complete the survey. To encourage participation, students received up to three e-mail invitations to participate over the course of four weeks. Of students who received the invitation to participate, 20.1% (n=4,840/24,055) returned a completed survey that assessed demographic characteristics; past 30-day tobacco use (i.e., cigarillos, little cigars, cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah); other substance use (i.e., alcohol, marijuana); perceived harm of cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars; smoking attitudes; self-identification as a smoker; sensation-seeking; perceived stress; and depressive symptoms.

Results: Of respondents, 12.1% (n=529) reporting smoking small cigars during the past 30 days. Of these, 5.1% (n=224) reported smoking cigarillos, and 10.2% (n=446) reported smoking little cigars, indicating that 3.2% (n=141) reported smoking both cigarillos and little cigars. Compared to nonusers, small cigar users were more likely to be younger, male, and African-American (all ps&lt;.001). In our sample, 72.0% of small cigar users reported concurrent cigarette use, with 56.3% being nondaily cigarette smokers. Multivariate analyses indicated that small cigar users were more likely to be younger (OR=0.93, 95% CI 0.90,0.96); male (OR=0.71, CI 0.54,0.93); African American (OR=6.49, CI 4.56, 9.22) or “Other” race (OR=3.36, CI 2.27,4.99); current cigarette smokers (Daily: OR=7.30, CI 4.54, 11.74; Nondaily: OR=14.33, CI 10.37, 19.81), cigar smokers (OR=3.72, CI 2.35, 5.91), hookah users (OR=2.66, CI 1.71, 4.13), and marijuana users (OR=3.81, CI 2.85, 5.09); and reported lower perceived harm of smoking (As harmful: OR=0.41, CI 0.27, 0.62; More harmful: OR=0.38, CI 0.24, 0.59), greater sensation seeking (OR=1.18, CI 1.02, 1.38), and higher perceived stress (OR=1.04, CI 1.00, 1.09).

Conclusions: The current study highlights important risk factors related to small cigar use. Particularly notable is the rate of concurrent use of other tobacco products and substances among this population. Evidence-based programs that address psychosocial factors associated with use and cooccurrence of tobacco and other substance use among young adult small cigar smokers are needed.

Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2011;4(10 Suppl):B38.