E-cigarette Use and Rhode Island High School Students: What Providers Need to Know about the Characteristics of Initiation of E-cigarettes and Related Risk Behaviors

摘要

Skyrocketing e-cigarette use gained national attention whenthe U.S. Surgeon General issued warnings about this youthepidemic in 2018. More recently, 2019 saw the emergenceof a new clinical condition attributed to vaping nicotineand/or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing productscalled E-cigarette or Vaping product use Associated LungInjury (EVALI). The long-term health effects of e-cigaretteuse on youth and adults are generally unknown, but someimmediate harms have been documented. Nicotine exposureduring adolescence can harm the developing brain untilapproximately the age of 25, impacting learning, memory,and attention.1 Other health risks include injuries resultingfrom battery explosions and accidental childhood nicotinepoisonings. The prevalence of e-cigarette use in youth alsoincreases the likelihood of exposure to secondhand smoke/aerosol for other students. Prior e-cigarette use has beenassociated with high school teens being more than fourtimes likely to ever smoke combustible cigarettes,2 makingyouth e-cigarette users more susceptible to known negativehealth outcomes associated with traditional tobacco cigaretteuse (e.g., cancer, heart, and lung diseases). Throughlongitudinal data, current e-cigarette use has been linkedto 1.29 increased odds of acquiring respiratory disease,3emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and Chronic ObstructivePulmonary Disease.