P032 E-CIGARETTE AND CIGARETTE USE AMONG U.S. ADULT IBD PATIENTS: POPULATION-LEVEL SURVEY

Abstract Background Cigarette smoking can negatively affect treatment response in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, especially among those with Crohn’s disease (CD). E-cigarette has been considered a safer alternative to delivering nicotine for IBD patients who smoke. However, given the recent large number of reported e-cigarette-related lung injury cases, CDC released an interim guidance update on those lung injuries. They also coined a term EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury) emphasizing the possible harms in e-cigarette smoking. To the best our knowledge, we currently do not know the recent smoking habits in American IBD patients, especially when it reveals that e-cigarette use might cause serious lung injuries. Methods We used National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for 2015–2016, which is a nationally representative survey for noninstitutionalized adults in the US. Weighted counts and percentages were estimated using survey design for the population-level results. We identified those who reportedly were told by a doctor or healthcare professional that they have IBD. We first estimated the prevalence of current e-cigarette or cigarette use among IBD patients. We then estimated the frequency of use (every day or some days) among the current users. We also categorized IBD patients into 4 groups by smoking type: those using e-cigarette only, cigarette only, using both, and neither. To see the characteristics of e-cigarette users, we stratified e-cigarette users by current/former/never cigarette use status. Results We identified 951 participants (population estimate: 3.1 million) with IBD. Among those people, 5.0% (95% CI: 3.1–6.9) was current e-cigarette users while 17.9% (95% CI: 14.8–21.0) was current cigarette smokers. Prevalence of every-day use and some-day use of e-cigarette was similar (2.4% vs 2.6%), while there was much higher prevalence of every-day use than some-day use in cigarette (15.3% vs 2.6%). Those who were using both e-cigarette and cigarette was 3.2% (Table). Majority of e-cigarette users were also currently using cigarette (63.6%, 95% CI: 48.9–78.3), while 32.7% (95% CI: 18.4–47.0) of them were former cigarette smokers. Only 3.7% (0.0–8.9) of them never used cigarettes. Conclusion While numerous studies show e-cigarette use is generally increasing rapidly in the US, we found that 5% of IBD patients are currently using e-cigarette. Almost two-thirds of them were also currently smoking cigarette and one-third of them were former smokers. It is possible that most of the e-cigarette users are still in the process of transitioning from cigarette smoking and thus using both types. We lack information on effects of using e-cigarette or both e-cigarette and cigarette in IBD treatment outcomes, as well as how e-cigarette use will complicate other health risks in IBD patients (e.g. lung injuries). We need further research on these effects to properly guide IBD patients who are in need of smoking cessation.