P1039 - Adolescent and Parent Knowledge, Attitude, and Habits Regarding E-Cigarette

Background: 27.5% of American high school students had tried e-cigarettes in the last 30 days in 2019, an increase from 1.5% in 2011. Originally marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes and a cigarette cessation aid, recent literature has uncovered adverse outcomes including e-cigarette associated lung injury and increase in cigarette initiation following e-cigarette use in adolescents. Although many adolescents are using e-cigarettes, the majority are unaware of the high nicotine content, addictive quality, or long-term health effects.

Objectives: The goal of this study is to quantify adolescents use of e-cigarettes, determine the influence of parental smoking behavior on adolescents, and assess adolescents and parent knowledge of health risks associated with e-cigarette use.

Methods: Patients ages 11-18 receiving care at an adolescent health outpatient clinic and the parent accompanying them to the visit were invited to participate in the study. Nine parent/child dyads and one adolescent completed a one-time survey assessing their own smoking behaviors, perceived e-cigarette use of their parent/child, and e-cigarette knowledge. To test e-cigarette knowledge subjects were asked whether or not e-cigarette’s contain nicotine, the relative quantity of nicotine in an e-cigarette, how many cigarettes is one e-cigarette pod equivalent, if e-cigarettes are addictive, if e-cigarette’s are harmful to your health, and the relative risk of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare categorical variables between parent and adolescent responses.

Results: Three adolescents reporting having tried e-cigarettes. Five adolescents reported household smoking exposure (3 e-cigarettes and 2 having quit cigarette smoking). No parents reported having tried e-cigarettes and two reported having quit cigarette smoking. There was no correlation between adolescents who used e-cigarettes and household smoke exposure (p=.595). Figure 1 demonstrates results for adolescent and parent e-cigarette knowledge. 100% of participants knew that e-cigarettes contain nicotine and 94% correctly identified that e-cigarettes are addictive and equal to if not more harmful to health than cigarettes.

Conclusion: Similar to previously published studies, our pilot study found that 30% of adolescents had tried e-cigarettes. Parental smoking behaviors did not influence whether an adolescent had tried e-cigarettes. Compared to recent literature, our cohort was more informed regarding nicotine content and health risks secondary to e-cigarette use. Given the improvement in e-cigarette knowledge but steady prevalence, future interventions should begin to target cessation as well as education regarding adolescent e-cigarette use.