Abstract P2022: The Use of Pod-Type Electronic Cigarettes and Recent Asthma Diagnosis in Adolescents

Introduction: Recently, the rate of electronic cigarette (e-cig) use in Korea has steadily increased. The use of e-cigs in adolescents related to various diseases, and asthma, in particular, harms their quality of life. Research on e-cig use and asthma is insufficient compared to research on the relationship between regular cigarettes and asthma. In addition, research on e-cigs is focused on liquid-type, and there is a dearth of papers on other pod-type. Aim: The purpose was to identify the association between pod-type e-cigs and recent asthma diagnoses in adolescents. Methods: This study used the 19th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in 2023. Out of 52,880 individuals, after excluding missing values for the age and economic status variables, 52,797 individuals were analyzed. The Rao-Scott chi-square test accessed the general characteristics. Logistic regression accessed the association between pod-type e-cigs and recent asthma. Results: Adolescents who are using the pod-type e-cig are likely to have asthma with a 4.0 higher odds (95% CI, 3.27-4.90) compared with nonpod-type users. The association was slightly weaker (OR 2.2, 95%CI 1.7-2.8) after adjusting gender, age, household income, stress, drinking alcohol, allergy, atopy, substance abuse, and the amount of pod-type electronic cigarettes smoked over a month. Conclusion: This study showed that adolescents who used pod-type e-cigarettes had a higher prevalence of asthma than those who did not. E-cigs are often advertised as a solution to the negative aspects of traditional cigarettes; however, from the perspective of asthma prevalence, they appear to have equally or even more harmful effects than regular cigarettes.