TITLE:
E-Cigarette Survey among Student Pharmacists Reveals Troubling Results
AUTHORS:
Jamie L. McConaha, Phillip Lunney, Jan M. Kitzen, Joseph V. Pergolizzi Jr., Robert Taylor Jr., Robert B. Raffa
KEYWORDS:
E-Cigarettes, Nicotine, Smoking Cessation, Survey, Vaping
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
30,
2020
ABSTRACT: The rise in “vaping”-associated deaths in the United
States raises serious concerns. A justification for some level of risk is that
e-cigarettes might provide a “reverse-gateway” from smoking traditional cigarettes to a less-harmful alternative. But are users actually smokers? We developed an electronic
on-line survey to gather data regarding e-cigarette usage in a target study
population of pharmacy students. The survey was created using Google Forms to
collect the responses anonymously. We surveyed medical-savvy healthcare
students about their e-cigarette use, and whether or not their healthcare
providers were aware of their e-cigarette use. Although nearly one-fourth of a
convenience sampling of 134 pharmacy-student respondents (23.9%) reported using
e-cigarettes, only 2.0% reported prior regular cigarette use, 28% used
cartridges containing nicotine and only 11.2% had tried and wanted to quit. The
majority (64.1%) reported that their healthcare providers did not ask about
such use, and respondents did not volunteer this information. The results of
this pilot survey reveal a significant e-cigarette use among health-aware
pharmacy students, and they do not support the notion that the respondents do
so to quit smoking. The observation that most of the students’ healthcare
providers did not inquire about their e-cigarette use, coupled with the finding
that users did not volunteer their vaping behavior, suggests that the information should be included
when getting a medical history. Further research is needed to determine what
behavioral factors may play a role in this type of decision-making among
student healthcare professionals.