PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tackett, Alayna P
AU  - Urman, Robert
AU  - Barrington-Trimis, Jessica
AU  - Liu, Feifei
AU  - Hong, Hanna
AU  - Pentz, Mary Ann
AU  - Islam, Talat S
AU  - Eckel, Sandrah P
AU  - Rebuli, Meghan
AU  - Leventhal, Adam
AU  - Samet, Jonathan M
AU  - Berhane, Kiros
AU  - McConnell, Rob
TI  - Prospective study of e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms in adolescents and young adults
AID  - 10.1136/thorax-2022-218670
DP  - 2024 Feb 01
TA  - Thorax
PG  - 163--168
VI  - 79
IP  - 2
4099  - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/79/2/163.short
4100  - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/79/2/163.full
SO  - Thorax2024 Feb 01; 79
AB  - 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.Data are available upon reasonable request.