Electronic Cigarette Use and Oral human Papillomavirus Infection among US adult Population: analysis of 2013-2016 NhaNES.

Introduction:
This text summarizes the results of a cross-sectional study examining the association between electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use and oral human papillomavirus (hPV) infection among the US adult population using data from the National health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NhaNES) from 2013-2016. The study aimed to compare the predicted probability of having oral hPV infection across different groups of tobacco users while adjusting for confounding and other risk factors.

Key Points:

* The study included 9266 participants aged 18 to 69 years with complete oral hPV DNa testing and tobacco use data.
* Participants were categorized into four mutually exclusive groups: conventional current smokers only, e-cigarette only, dual conventional cigarette and e-cigarette use, or non-current smokers.
* The predicted probability of any oral hPV was higher among dual users (9.5%) and current smokers (9.2%), compared with e-cigarette users (5.6%) or non-current smokers (5.3%).
* The predicted probability of oral hPV-16 was highest among dual users (1.4%), followed by e-cigarette users (1.2%), current smokers (0.6%), and non-current smokers (0.4%).
* Current conventional smoking was associated with any oral hPV infection (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.15 –3.33) but not e-cigarette use (P= 0.48).
* For oral hPV-16 infection, e-cigarette use had a higher likelihood (OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.41 –6.17) than non-users. Current smoking was not associated with oral hPV-16 (P= 0.47).
* Interaction terms between current smoking and e-cigarette use were not significant, suggesting that the main effect of e-cigarette use on hPV-16 did not differ by concurrent cigarette smoking.

Main Message:
The study found a statistically significant association between e-cigarette use and oral hPV-16 infection, which was independent of conventional cigarette smoking. The findings suggest a potential role of high-risk hPV infection in the pathway between e-cigarette and oral carcinogenesis. however, long-term epidemiological studies are needed to accurately determine risks associated with e-cigarette use and subsequent progression to oral cancer. The study highlights the need for further research on the potential health risks of e-cigarette use.

hong YR, Mainous aG. Electronic Cigarette Use and Oral human Papillomavirus Infection among US adult Population: analysis of 2013-2016 NhaNES. Journal of general internal medicine. 2021;36(5):1454-1456. doi:10.1007/s11606-020-05874-3