Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39472048›Full record

ArticleTobacco control2026

Changes in price, income and e-cigarette affordability for young people in the USA from 2015 to 2021.

Megan C Diaz, Karl Braganza, Tyler Minter, Elizabeth C Hair, John A Tauras

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Tobacco control, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Megan C DiazSchroeder Institute, Truth Initiative, Washington, District of Columbia, USA mdiaz@truthinitiative.org.ORCID 0000-0001-6915-2529
Karl BraganzaSchroeder Institute, Truth Initiative, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6057-686X
Tyler MinterSchroeder Institute, Truth Initiative, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.ORCID 0009-0000-9540-8436
Elizabeth C HairSchroeder Institute, Truth Initiative, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0536-2409
John A TaurasDepartment of Economics, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7625-8062

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundE-cigarette products are the most popular tobacco/nicotine product used among youth and young adults in the USA. While emerging research has shown that e-cigarette taxes increase their price, no study to date has examined e-cigarette tax burdens nor their affordability for youth and young adults.

methodsUsing real (2021 US dollars) prices per mL of e-liquid data from NielsenIQ and annual real (2021 US dollars) personal income data from Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we calculate relative income prices and examine average annual percentage changes in affordability using Joinpoint trend analysis from 2015 to 2021. In addition, we use tax data to calculate e-cigarette tax burdens as a percentage of price per 1 mL of e-liquid.

resultsIn all states analysed, tax burdens increased from 2015 to 2021. E-cigarette prices decreased considerably from 2019 to 2021; in 2021 the real (2021 US dollars) average price of 1 mL of e-liquid was US$4.45. E-cigarettes on average became more affordable for all age groups and states; however, e-cigarettes tended to be less affordable in states with ad-valorem tax structures. On average, 16-17-year-olds needed 31% of their annual income to purchase 100 mL of e-liquid, whereas 18-19-year-olds, 20-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds needed 9%, 3% and 1%, respectively.

conclusionsE-cigarettes have become more affordable for young people, but less so in states with ad-valorem tax structures. Policy efforts should focus on reducing e-cigarette affordability, especially for youth, through tax-induced increases in e-cigarette prices to levels high enough to outpace income growth.

Indexed as

CommerceElectronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsIncomeTaxesAdolescentAdultHumansUnited StatesVapingYoung Adultelectronic nicotine delivery devicesnicotinepricetaxation

Identifiers

PMID39472048
PMCPMC12911628

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.