Increasing prevalence of nicotine vaping associated with respiratory symptoms among youth, suggests study

Nicotine vaping is rising among youth and has triggered cautions over its potential health repercussions, particularly respiratory issues. A recent study published in the BMC Medicine analyzed the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among the young people aged 16 to 19 years after correlating these health concerns with their vaping behaviors.

This study was conducted as part of the 2020 and 2021 International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC) Youth Tobacco and Vaping Surveys and included a total of 39,214 participants from Canada, England and the United States. This research utilized weighted multivariable logistic regression to analyze the relationship between self-reported respiratory symptoms like shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain, phlegm, cough and various vaping and smoking behaviors.

The findings revealed that 27.8% of the surveyed youth reported facing at least one of the specified respiratory symptoms in the past week. When comparing different groups, youth who had only smoked expressed similar odds of reporting these symptoms as the individuals who had only vaped. However, the individuals who both smoked and vaped showed a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing respiratory issues, while individuals who neither smoked nor vaped had the lowest odds.

Also, when compared to youths who had never vaped, the study indicates that those with past or experimental use as well as current regular or occasional vapers were more prone to reporting respiratory symptoms. Among current vapers, the frequency of vaping, use of nicotine salts and the type of flavors and devices were all scrutinized to bring out their impact on respiratory health.

The youths who reported using nicotine salts in their vaping devices had higher odds of undergoing respiratory symptoms when compared to the individuals who were using non-salt nicotine, though this finding was sometimes inconclusive. The study also highlighted that certain e-liquid flavors were linked to higher odds of respiratory issues. While menthol/mint and sweets flavors presented similar risks to tobacco flavors, fruit flavors, multiple flavors and the category labeled as 'other' were associated with significantly higher odds of respiratory symptoms.

The comprehensive approach of this study helps in understanding the intricate relationship between vaping behaviors and respiratory health among youth. With a considerable portion of young vapers reporting symptoms like shortness of breath and wheezing, these outcomes underline the urgent need for further research and public health interventions to address and reduce the adverse effects of vaping on the respiratory health of young people.

Reference:

Brose, L. S., Reid, J. L., Robson, D., McNeill, A., & Hammond, D. (2024). Associations between vaping and self-reported respiratory symptoms in young people in Canada, England and the US. In BMC Medicine (Vol. 22, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03428-6