Nicotine pouch use by sex, school type and tobacco product use among Finnish adolescents during the 2023 change in regulatory scheme with deregulated sales

Abstract

AbstractBackground and aimsIn Finland, nicotine pouches entered the national market abruptly in 2023, following a change in April 2023 from medicinal product classification into less regulated tobacco surrogate status. This study aimed to measure adolescent nicotine pouch use and associated characteristics.Design and settingA cross‐sectional, nationwide school‐based survey among students in comprehensive schools (COMP), general upper secondary schools (GEN) and vocational institutes (VOC) in 2023 in Finland.ParticipantsA total of 151 224 respondents aged 14–20 years (mean age 16.18 years, standard deviation 1.20 years).MeasurementsNicotine pouch use was used as the outcome variable. Demographics included age, sex, school type and tobacco product use (smoking, snus use and e‐cigarette use). Covariates included parental education and parental smoking. All measures were self‐reported.FindingsUnadjusted results showed that current nicotine pouch use was more common among boys (11.3%) than among girls (3.3%), adolescents in VOC (15.4%) compared with COMP (6.8%) and GEN (4.3%), whereas daily use of other tobacco and nicotine products was associated with current nicotine pouch use compared with never using such products and the association was especially strong for snus use. The fully adjusted estimates of current nicotine pouch use remained strong for daily use of other tobacco and nicotine products (snus use: adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 74.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 65.65–84.25; smoking: aPR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.36–1.50; e‐cigarette use: aPR = 2.15, 95% CI = 2.04–2.27) and for sex (boys aPR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.48–1.57). There was no clear evidence of differences in current nicotine pouch use by school type, age or parental factors in the fully adjusted model.ConclusionsIn Finland in 2023, during which the availability of nicotine pouches became less regulated, nicotine pouch use appeared to be more common among boys and adolescents who used other nicotine products.