(Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Users of e-cigarettes are likely to consume conventional tobacco products, a study showed Thursday, suggesting limited health benefits for smokers.
According to the survey conducted by the anti-smoking support center under the Korea Health Promotion Institute, all users of IQOS, a heat-not-burn device from Philip Morris International Inc., tended to use ordinary cigarettes too.
The survey was conducted on 228 South Koreans aged from 19 to 24 in September last year, three months after IQOS was released in the country. The result was published in British Medical Journal.
The center said the result is significant despite the low number of participants, as it helped gather data on the initial stage of an e-cigarette market.
The report said 38.1 percent of the respondents were aware of IQOS and that 3.5 percent currently use the product.
All respondents using IQOS consumed conventional tobacco products and liquid e-cigarettes, the research showed.
According to a study conducted by the Korean Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco earlier this year, around 98 percent of heat-not-burn e-cigarette users also consumed ordinary cigarettes.
(Yonhap)
