Mental health and the association between asthma and E-cigarette Use among Young adults in The United States: a Mediation analysis.

Introduction:
This article, "Mental health and the association between asthma and E-cigarette Use among Young adults in The United States: a Mediation analysis" published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public health, examines the relationship between asthma, mental health, and e-cigarette use among young adults in the United States. The study aims to understand the role of mental health in the association between asthma and e-cigarette use.

Key Points:

* The study used data from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to analyze the relationship between asthma, mental health, and e-cigarette use among young adults.
* The study found that young adults with current or former asthma were more likely to report current e-cigarette use and had a greater number of bad mental health days in the past 30 days compared to those without asthma.
* The study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that mental health functioning would account for the relationship between asthma status and e-cigarette use among those aged 18 to 24 years old.
* The study found that mental health functioning mediated the association between asthma status and e-cigarette use.
* The study controlled for sociodemographic variables, smoking status, and other chronic health conditions.
* The study had a large sample size of over 31 million young adults.
* The study's findings suggest that mental health services may play an important role in improving health and wellbeing in this vulnerable population.

Main Message:
The study highlights the importance of considering mental health when examining the relationship between asthma and e-cigarette use among young adults. The findings suggest that poor mental health may contribute to the increased use of e-cigarettes among young adults with asthma. Therefore, mental health services may be a critical component in addressing this public health issue. The study's large sample size and use of structural equation modeling strengthen its conclusions. however, the cross-sectional design of the study limits the ability to infer causality. Further research, including longitudinal studies, is needed to establish the causal relationships between asthma, mental health functioning, and e-cigarette use.

alanazi aMM, alqahtani MM, Pavela G, Ford EW, Leventhal aM, hendricks PS. Mental health and the association between asthma and E-cigarette Use among Young adults in The United States: a Mediation analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020;17(23). doi:10.3390/ijerph17238799