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. 2024 Jan 18;79(2):163-168.
doi: 10.1136/thorax-2022-218670.

Prospective study of e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms in adolescents and young adults

Alayna P Tackett  1 , Robert Urman  2 , Jessica Barrington-Trimis  2 , Feifei Liu  2 , Hanna Hong  3 , Mary Ann Pentz  2 , Talat S Islam  2 , Sandrah P Eckel  2 , Meghan Rebuli  4 , Adam Leventhal  2 , Jonathan M Samet  5 , Kiros Berhane  6 , Rob McConnell  7
Affiliations

Prospective study of e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms in adolescents and young adults

Alayna P Tackett et al. Thorax. .

Abstract

Rationale: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) aerosol contains volatile aldehydes, including flavourings and oxidant metals with known pulmonary toxicity.

Objectives: To evaluate the associations of e-cigarette use with symptoms of wheeze, bronchitic symptoms and shortness of breath (SOB) across 4 years of prospective data.

Methods: Participants completed questionnaires on respiratory symptoms and past 30-day e-cigarette, cigarette and cannabis use in 2014 (wave 1; N=2094; mean age 17.3 years, SD=0.6 years). Follow-up information was collected in 2015 (wave 2; n=1609), 2017 (wave 3; n=1502) and 2018 (wave 4; n=1637) using online surveys. Mixed-effects logistic regression models evaluated associations of e-cigarette use with respiratory symptoms.

Measurements and main results: Participants were mostly Hispanic white (51.8%) and evenly representative by sex (49.6% female; 50.4% male). Compared with never e-cigarette users, past 30-day e-cigarette users reported increased odds of wheeze (OR 1.81; 95% CI 1.28, 2.56), bronchitic symptoms (OR 2.06; 95% CI 1.58, 2.69) and SOB (OR 1.78; 95% CI 1.23, 2.57), adjusting for study wave, age, sex, race, lifetime asthma diagnosis and parental education. Effect estimates were attenuated (wheeze (OR 1.41; 95% CI 0.99, 2.01), bronchitic symptoms (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.18, 2.05), SOB (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.01, 2.18)), after adjusting additionally for current cigarette use, cannabis use and secondhand exposure to e-cigarettes/cigarettes/cannabis.

Conclusions: E-cigarette use in young adults was associated with respiratory symptoms, independent of combustible cannabis and cigarette exposures.

Keywords: Tobacco and the lung.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of current respiratory symptoms (wheeze, shortness of breath, and bronchitic symptoms) among study participants across each wave.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Prevalence of current e-cigarette, cigarette, and cannabis use among study participants across each wave.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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