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E-cigarette Use Among Community-Recruited Adults with a History of Asthma in North Central Florida

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Abstract

Use of e-cigarettes have become an important public health concern in the US, particularly among those with health issues like asthma, which has remained high over the last decade. We examined associations between lifetime e-cigarette use and traditional cigarette use, cannabis use, and related health factors among community members with a history of asthma in North Central Florida. Data came from HealthStreet, a University of Florida community engagement program. Adults with a history of asthma (n = 1,475) were interviewed between 2014 and 2021. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine differences between participants with and without a history of lifetime e-cigarette use. In this sample, lifetime prevalence of e-cigarette use was 19.9%. Over half of the sample reported ever smoking traditional cigarettes (54.4%) or cannabis (55.4%). Compared to those who identified as White, those who identified as Black/African American had lower odds for lifetime e-cigarette use (aOR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.42). Those reporting lifetime traditional cigarette use (aOR = 10.60, 95% CI: 6.93, 16.68) or cannabis use (aOR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.27, 2.61) had higher odds for reporting lifetime e-cigarette use. Overall, among a community sample of adults with a history of asthma, nearly a fifth reported lifetime e-cigarette use. The use of e-cigarettes was most common among those with lifetime traditional cigarette use and cannabis use. Findings can inform prevention and intervention efforts in this population.

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Data Availability

Data that supports the findings of the present study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Research reported in this manuscript was supported by funding from the National Institute of Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32DA035167 (PI: Cottler) and by the University of Florida Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which is supported in part by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences under Award Number UL1TR001427. The content is solely the responsibility of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd, Gainesville, FL, 32603, USA

    Andrew J. McCabe, Nicole Fitzgerald, Catherine Striley & Linda Cottler

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  1. Andrew J. McCabe
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  3. Catherine Striley
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Correspondence to Andrew J. McCabe.

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McCabe, A.J., Fitzgerald, N., Striley, C. et al. E-cigarette Use Among Community-Recruited Adults with a History of Asthma in North Central Florida. J Community Health 48, 1010–1014 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-023-01256-y

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