Washington:
E-cigarettes, widely promoted as a 'healthy' alternative to smoking, could lead to problematic drinking, a new study has warned.
Previous studies have shown a strong link between cigarette smoking and drinking, so the researchers hypothesised that a similar connection may be found with e-cigarette use and drinking.
The researchers from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the US, surveyed two groups of people who drink alcohol using a modified version of the Nicotine and Other Substance Interaction Expectancy Questionnaire (NOSIE) to find out whether people expected to use e-cigarettes and alcohol together.
In both groups, of 692 and 714 people, the survey found that drinking alcohol leads to e-cigarette use and vice versa.
E-cigarette users were significantly more likely to drink problematically than non-users in both groups.
People who expected to use e-cigarettes and alcohol together reported drinking more.
The results suggest that using e-cigarettes to quit smoking could mean people miss out on the benefits of quitting; smoking cessation generally results in people drinking less alcohol, but using e-cigarettes means this decrease may not happen.
"If you quit smoking cold turkey, it affects other behaviours associated with smoking, such as drinking," said Alexandra Hershberger, lead author of the study.
"By replacing smoking with e-cigarette use, it could be that you're at risk of continuing behaviours you don't want to continue. This is particularly serious for people with alcohol addiction - using e-cigarettes could make it harder to stop drinking," Ms Hershberger said.
The study also found that more women use e-cigarettes socially than men. In general, men report more risk-taking behaviours than women, including smoking, drinking and drug use.
The findings suggest that women may not perceive e-cigarette use as risky.
"We were surprised to see higher e-cigarette use in women. Generally men tend to report more risk-taking across the board, but in our study, women outnumbered men in terms of e-cigarette use," Ms Hershberger said.
"This could be because women perceive the device differently to other risk-taking behaviour; e-cigarettes tend to be viewed more positively than cigarettes. Those views could be driving more use in women than we'd expect," she said.