The increasing use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, among adolescents has become very apparent in recent years. We encourage our patients to quit vaping, but do we provide guidance beyond that? What do adolescents do when they want to quit vaping? Daisy Dai PhD and colleagues from the University of Nebraska, Kansas City University, and Harvard University analyzed data from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) to answer these questions, and their article, entitled “Adoption of Vaping Cessation Methods by U.S. Adolescent E-cigarette Users,” is being early released this week in Pediatrics (10.1542/peds.2023-062948).
Of 1,436 students who reported vaping currently, 68% had tried to quit in the past year. Most do not try to quit unless they think that they are addicted to e-cigarettes.
The most commonly reported strategies to quit included:
- No resources (63%)
- Peer support (14.2%)
- Help on the Internet (6.4%)
- Mobile app or text messaging (5.9%)
- Parent support (5.8%)
Fewer than 4% reported getting quit support from a doctor.
Adolescents who identified as male or Hispanic were less likely to report that they tried to quit without any help, and were more likely to ask for help from their parents. Those who reported being gay/lesbian were also less likely to report quit attempts without any help.
A few take-aways from this article:
- We need to ask our patients if they are vaping.
- For those patients who deny being addicted, we can gently suggest that they try to not vape for a couple of days – this may convince them that they are addicted and need to quit.
- There are very few evidence-based vaping cessation programs specifically developed for adolescents. So for now, we have to largely rely on programs that have been developed for adults.
I have been referring my patients to the Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW), which offers support for those who use e-cigarettes. Smokefree.gov and the FDA have also developed the quitSTART app, which may be helpful for those who are digitally inclined.
