A cross‐sectional analysis of electronic cigarette use in US adults by asthma status

AbstractObjectiveElectronic cigarette (e‐cigarette) use has been shown to worsen the asthma symptoms, but there is little information on current e‐cigarette use patterns in the general US adult asthma population. We examined the unadjusted and adjusted estimates of current e‐cigarette use in a nationally representative sample of US adults by asthma status and what factors influence this use.MethodsWe determined the prevalence of current e‐cigarette use in adults with and without asthma using the 2016‐2018 Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System datasets. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to obtain adjusted estimates of e‐cigarette use by asthma status while also identifying which sociodemographic and clinical factors are associated with e‐cigarette use in adults with asthma.ResultsOf the 23,071 adults with asthma in the study, 22.5% were currently using e‐cigarettes. After adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with asthma and current e‐cigarette use, adults with asthma had similar odds of every day e‐cigarette use (odds ratio (OR): 1.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93‐1.15) but higher odds of e‐cigarette use on some days (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.10‐1.27) compared to adults without asthma. Younger age, male sex and former or current traditional cigarette use were significantly associated with both e‐cigarette use on some days and every day in adults with asthma.ConclusionCurrent e‐cigarette use estimates among US adults with asthma indicate a need for further e‐cigarette education and cessation interventions that are specifically tailored to sociodemographic and clinical groups who are especially prone to e‐cigarette use within this population.