Prevalence and factors associated with adolescents’ use of electronic cigarettes and hookahs in Pamplona: Emtamplona Study

ABSTRACTBackground Electronic cigarettes, hookahs, or water pipes are new forms of tobacco consumption, these alternatives are becoming popular in the adolescent and young adult population.Objective To determine the prevalence and factors associated with the usage of electronic cigarettes and hookahs in Colombian adolescents.Materials and Methods Secondary analysis of data from one study aimed to determine the prevalence of traditional cigarette use (Emtamplona Study). The adolescents were considered consumers if he/she claimed to have consumed at least one cigarette or used a hookah and/or electronic cigarette during the last 30 days. A self-administered and anonymous questionnaire was answered by 812 adolescents aged 14 ± 2 years (438 women).Results The prevalence of electronic cigarette and hookah use was 1.8% (95%CI 0.9%–2.7%) and 2.8% (95%CI 1.8%–4.1%), respectively. A logistic regression analysis showed that traditional cigarette consumption was associated (OR 10.46, 95%CI 3.64–30.97) with electronic cigarette use. On the other hand, being in sixth-seventh grade (OR 5.19 95%CI 1.08–25.01) and belonging to a private school (OR 10.54 95%CI 3.95–28.13), smoking (OR 15.38 95%CI 3.45–68.62) was associated with hookah use.Conclusions Electronic cigarette and hookah use among these adolescents is low; however, public health strategies are important to control tobacco consumption.KEYWORDS: Adolescenttobaccosmoking habitcross-sectional studies (source: DECS-Bireme) AcknowledgmentsWe, the authors express our gratitude to the Universidad del Norte, the Universidad de los Llanos, and each school in the City of Pamplona-Colombia. Permission was obtained for this analysis from every school excepting the Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Bethlemitas Pamplona, which decided not to participate.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThe author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.