Exposure to and use of electronic cigarettes: Does language matter?

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether patients who are English proficient become aware of e-cigarettes through different marketing tactics and have dissimilar patterns of use than patients who are non-English speaking. Design: This was a cross-sectional study surveying adult English- and Spanish-speaking patients. ANOVA and chi-squared tests were used to examine differences between groups. Setting: A large public, safety-net hospital in Los Angeles County, California. Results: Respondents (N=1899) were predominately Hispanic (78%), foreign-born (68%), and reported Spanish as a primary language (64%). Native English speakers reported the highest use of e-cigarettes (26%), followed by non-native (13%) and non-English speakers (2%) (P