Covid-19: Study Finds 32% of Youth Ended E-Cigarette Use
Credit: Tomkohhantsuk
E-cigarette use among teens and young adults decreased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly two-thirds of e-cigarette users reporting that they’ve either cut back or quit, according to a new study.
About 32 percent of e-cigarette users said they quit this year and another 35 percent reported cutting back, according to survey results published Dec. 3 in JAMA Network Online.
Concerns about lung health were a major factor in their decision, the results indicate. One in 4 respondents who cut back or quit said they were motivated by concern that vaping could weaken their lungs.
Research has shown that smokers have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection, noted senior researcher Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a developmental psychologist and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University in California.
Vapers’ worries were probably also motivated by the 2019 nationwide outbreak of EVALI, which involved thousands of lung injuries related to e-cigarette use, she added.
“One of the main reasons they quit is that they were worried about lung health, and we think that’s important, that they thought they could hurt their lungs,” Halpern-Felsher said. “This really provides an opportunity to talk about and provide education about lung health.”