a cross-sectional analysis of electronic cigarette use in US adults by asthma status.

Introduction:
This text provides an analysis of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among US adults with and without asthma, using data from the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys from 2016-2018. The study aims to determine the prevalence of current e-cigarette use by asthma status and examine the influence of sociodemographic and clinical factors on e-cigarette use.

Key Points:

* The study included 186,036 adults, of which 23,071 currently have asthma.
* People with asthma were more likely to be slightly older, female, a person of colour, have a lower household income, not be a college graduate, not be married, have health-care coverage, and currently smoke traditional cigarettes than people without asthma.
* approximately, 22.5% of people with asthma were current e-cigarette users compared to 20.5% of people without asthma.
* adults with asthma had higher odds of e-cigarette use on some days (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.10-1.27) than adults without this condition.
* among adults with asthma, younger age, male sex, higher household income, fewer years of education, and being a current or former traditional cigarette smoker were significantly associated with increased odds of every day e-cigarette use.
* Younger age, male sex, and being a current or former traditional cigarette smoker were significantly associated with increased odds of e-cigarette use on some days among adults with asthma.

Main Message:
The study found that e-cigarette use is not uncommon among adult asthmatics, with around 28,000 US adults with asthma who use e-cigarettes every day and around 53,000 that use them on some days. The study highlights the need for e-cigarette education and cessation interventions that are specifically tailored to sociodemographic and clinical groups who are especially prone to e-cigarette use within this population. It is crucial that current e-cigarette users with asthma be made aware that continued e-cigarette use can considerably worsen their underlying respiratory condition.

Tran L, Tran P, Tran L. a cross-sectional analysis of electronic cigarette use in US adults by asthma status. The clinical respiratory journal. 2020;14(10):991-997. doi:10.1111/crj.13231