Objective: Women of childbearing age are encouraged not to smoke because of well-documented adverse health outcomes. This study examines the association between e-cigarette use and respiratory conditions (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]) among women of childbearing age.
Methods: The study used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2016-2017. The sample consisted of 131,965 women of childbearing age (18-44 years old). The main independent variable was smoking status and the primary outcomes were self-reported respiratory conditions such as asthma and COPD. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression to assess the effects of e-cigarettes on asthma and COPD.
Results: In this sample of childbearing-age women, 2.79% were current e-cigarettes users with or without a history of combustible cigarette smoking and 3.02% were current dual users. Compared with nonsmokers, current e-cigarette users without a history of combustible cigarette smoking were associated with 74% higher odds of having asthma (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.29-2.35), whereas results were not significant for COPD. The odds of having COPD, however, were 3 times higher (AOR 3.28, 95% CI 2.62-4.12) for current e-cigarette users with a history of cigarette smoking, whereas current dual users showed 5 times higher odds (AOR 5.07, 95% CI 3.91-6.56) of COPD compared with nonsmokers.
Conclusion: Policies related to e-cigarettes need to be reevaluated and clearly communicated to improve prevention efforts for women of childbearing age.