UC San Diego

Background

E-cigarettes have emerged as popular products, especially for younger populations. However, concerns regarding health effects exist and there is a notable gap in understanding the prevalence and nature of adverse events. This study aims to examine the rate of adverse events in individuals who use e-cigarettes in a large sample.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 4695 current and former e-cigarette users with a median age of 34 years. The survey collected data on e-cigarette use, adverse events experienced, product characteristics, related behaviors, sociodemographic factors and presence of medical comorbidities. Statistical analyses were conducted using Pearson's chi-squared tests and logistic regression.

Results

A total of 78.9% of respondents reported experiencing an adverse event within 6 h of using a vaping device, with the most common events being headache, anxiety and coughing. Product characteristics and related behaviors significantly influenced the risk of adverse events. There were also sociodemographic disparities, with Hispanic respondents and those with at least college-level education reporting higher rates of adverse events.

Conclusions

Our study found a high rate of adverse events among e-cigarette users. We identified that certain e-cigarette product characteristics, behaviors and medical comorbidities significantly increased the risk of these events.