Exploring the association between the proximity to and density around schools of retailers selling IQOS products and youth use of heated tobacco products: evidence from the 2020-2021 COMPASS study.

Introduction: Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are novel tobacco products that may appeal to youth. This study explored whether HTP retailer proximity and density to secondary schools were associated with youth use of HTPs in four Canadian provinces.

Methods: An online search between November 2020 and March 2021 identified retailers selling IQOS devices and HEETS (tobacco sticks used in IQOS) within 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m radius circular buffer zones around high schools (N = 120) participating in the COMPASS study in 2020-2021. Retailer proximity/density data were linked to crosssectional student-level data (N = 40 636 students), and multilevel regression models examined the association between HTP retailer proximity and density and current HTP use, controlling for relevant covariates.

Results: While only 10.0% of schools had at least one retailer selling IQOS devices within 1000 m of the school, 65.0% of schools had at least one retailer selling HEETS. The school a student attended accounted for 23.7% of the variability in the likelihood of currently using an HTP. However, HTP retailer proximity to and density around schools were not significantly associated with the likelihood of students currently using HTPs.

Conclusion: While the school a student attended accounted for a significant amount of variability in HTP use, these findings suggest that students may be obtaining HTPs through other, non-retail sources. Continued monitoring is warranted as HTP use among youth may change.