Background Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), also referred to as electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, were introduced into the US market in 2007. Despite concerns regarding the long-term health impact of this product, there is little known about awareness and use of ENDS among adults in the USA. Methods A consumer-based mail-in survey (ConsumerStyles) was completed by 10 587 adults (≥18 years) in 2009 and 10 328 adults in 2010. Data from these surveys were used to monitor awareness, ever use and past month use of ENDS from 2009 to 2010 and to assess demographic characteristics and tobacco use of ENDS users. Results In this US sample, awareness of ENDS doubled from 16.4% in 2009 to 32.2% in 2010 and ever use more than quadrupled from 2009 (0.6%) to 2010 (2.7%). Ever use of ENDS was most common among women and those with lower education, although these were not the groups who had heard of ENDS most often. Current smokers and tobacco users were most likely to try ENDS. However, current smokers who had tried ENDS did not say they planned to quit smoking more often than smokers who had never tried them. Conclusions Given the large increase in awareness and ever use of ENDS during this 1-year period and the unknown impact of ENDS use on cigarette smoking behaviours and long-term health, continued monitoring of these products is needed.

Objectives. We estimated smoking prevalence, frequency, intensity, and cessation attempts among US adults with selected diagnosed lifetime mental illnesses. Methods. We used data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey on 23 393 noninstitutionalized US adults to obtain age-adjusted estimates of smoking prevalence, frequency, intensity, and cessation attempts for adults screened as having serious psychological distress and persons self-reporting bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity, dementia, or phobias or fears. Results. The age-adjusted smoking prevalence of adults with mental illness or serious psychological distress ranged from 34.3% (phobias or fears) to 59.1% (schizophrenia) compared with 18.3% of adults with no such illness. Smoking prevalence increased with the number of comorbid mental illnesses. Cessation attempts among persons with diagnosed mental illness or serious psychological distress were comparable to attempts among adults without mental illnesses or distress; however, lower quit ratios were observed among adults with these diagnoses, indicating lower success in quitting. Conclusions. The prevalence of current smoking was higher among persons with mental illnesses than among adults without mental illnesses. Our findings stress the need for prevention and cessation efforts targeting adults with mental illnesses.

PURPOSE Seasonal influenza vaccine is recommended and funded for groups at higher risk of serious infection, but uptake is suboptimal. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of short message service (SMS) reminders for influenza vaccination. METHODS Six weeks after seasonal influenza vaccinations began, we identified high-risk patients who had a mobile telephone number on record at 10 practices in Western Australia. Thirty-two percent of the selected patients had already been vaccinated in the current year and were ineligible. Of the remaining 12,354 eligible patients at each practice one-half were randomly assigned to receive a vaccination reminder by SMS (intervention) and the rest received no SMS (control). Approximately 3 months after the SMS was sent (the study period), vaccination data were extracted from the patients’ electronic medical records. Log-binomial regression models were used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of vaccination between the intervention and control group. RESULTS Twelve-percent (769 of 6,177) of the intervention group and 9% (548 of 6,177) of the control group were vaccinated during the study period, a 39% relative increase attributable to the SMS (RR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.26–1.54). For every 29 SMSs sent, costing $3.48, 1 additional high-risk patient was immunized. The greatest effect was observed for children younger than 5 years, whose parents were more than twice as likely to have their child vaccinated if they received a SMS reminder (RR = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.79–3.29). CONCLUSION We found SMS reminders to be a modestly effective, low-cost means to increase seasonal influenza vaccine coverage among high-risk patients.