Introduction The emergence of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) poses a new challenge to tobacco control efforts. With their increasing popularity, particularly among youth, public concerns have been raised in Mainland China. Further investigation is necessary to fully understand the safety and potential adverse effects of e-cigarettes. Methods The Baidu search index (BSI) was employed using e-cigarette related terms from January 1, 2011, to April 4, 2022. The search volume for each term was recorded and analyzed for the search trend module, geodemographic module, search-demand module, regional preferences, demographic preferences, and user demand. Results According to our analysis, the total BSI for the 18 e-cigarette related search keywords was 39,027,819. The average annual percentage change of BSI indicated an upward trend for each of these categories, including health issues (p < 0.05), definition (p < 0.05), product and promotions (p < 0.05), and policy and regulations. Of all inquiries, 59.38% originated from females and 40.62% from males. The total valid BSI for e-cigarette related words was 165,076,588, and 11.59% of all search inquiries were from individuals aged 19 years and younger. Our analysis also revealed that the public\'s primary concerns regarding e-cigarettes were related to their quality and potential health issues. Conclusions E-cigarettes enjoy great popularity nationwide, but product quality and safety are major public concerns. Regulation of e-cigarettes for their standard production, quality control, advertisement, and target customers should be implemented promptly, and the public needs to have a clear perception of e-cigarettes, especially adolescents. E-cigarette related health damages or consequences require further investigation, and advertisements and promotions for e-cigarettes should be strictly controlled by the government.

BACKGROUND: Digital health tools (WeChat or mobile health apps) provide opportunities for new methods of hypertension management for hypertensive patients. However, the willingness of these patients to use social media and mobile health apps for hypertension management remains unclear. This study explored the characteristics and requirements of patients willing to use digital health (WDH) tools to manage hypertension.
METHODS: From February to March 2018, we administered questionnaires to 1089 patients with hypertension at eight Chinese primary medical units. We assessed independent risk factors of WDH and requirement among WDH patients.
RESULTS: Overall, 43% (465/1089) of participants were WDH patients, who were younger (58 ± 12 vs 61 ± 13 years) and had a greater proportion of employed individuals (31% vs 14%) and higher education levels (65% vs 52%) than the non-WDH patients (all P < 0.0001). After adjusting for other risk factors, higher education (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34-0.79), good medicine adherence (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0-2.3) and blood pressure self-monitoring (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3) remained significantly associated with WDH (all P < 0.05). WDH patients responded that digital health tools should try to provide a platform for blood pressure monitoring (42%), medication reminders (41%), hypertension knowledge (39%) and doctor-patient communication (32%).
CONCLUSIONS: Our survey suggested that among hypertensive patients, willingness to use digital health tools was significantly associated with education, medicine adherence and blood pressure self-monitoring. Digital health tool developers and researchers should pay particular attention to recruiting older, less educated and unemployed patients with less willingness and who are less technologically savvy and research the requirements of WDH patients (blood pressure monitoring, medication reminders, and knowledge education) in the future.