Rising trend of vaping products use amongst university students of urban setting in Pakistan: a cross-sectional survey

Background: Owing to the global rise in prevalence, influencing factors and the health risks of vaping among youth, the current research delves into the concerning surge of vaping in university students. We aim to determine the frequency of the use of vaping products (VPs), their influencing factors and effects on general health and life style among university students of Pakistan. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 389 university students aged 18 and 35 years using non-probability convenient sampling. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was designed after through literature search. Results: The frequency of vaping was 68.4% (266) among 389 participants. Mean age was 22.40±2.44 while 78.4% were males. Out of those 266 individuals, 60.9% were vaping for more than a year, 35.5% vape daily while 73.7% used vaping pod for vaping. 32.3% reported to feel unhealthy change after starting vaping, 55.3% had no change in sleep pattern, 25.6% admitted having breathing problems after vaping while 57.1% experienced positive effect on their mood with vaping. The students from non-medical discipline tend to vape more than medical students (p-value 0.005). Highest source of information about smoking products was friends (77.4%) followed by social media and other internet sources (58.10%). Conclusions: VPs use is prevailing and rapidly escalating. Our finding may contribute to a better understanding of the prevalence, compelling factors and effects and may provide insight into the future interventions to combat this rising trend to ensure the well-being of young adults in Karachi, Pakistan.