Description

Background: The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes/vaping) among adolescents and young adults in the United States has risen and become commonly used over the past decade. Factors that contributed to the rise in e-cigarette use include tastes and flavors, rechargeable vaping pods, social experimentation, curiosity, entertainment, and social environments. The Dyad Vaping Study seeks to determine secondhand vaping exposure between vapers and non-vapers over a 3-month period among college students participating as a dyad (vaper/non-vaper). Methods: The Dyad Vaping Study is a 3-month long pilot study. Inclusion criteria were being between 18-30 years old, currently using e-cigarettes (vaper), English fluency, internet access, and not using e-cigarettes (non-vaper). At the first visit of the month, participants were given their own silicone wristband and wore them for 7 days. The second visit of the month occurred on the 7th day of wearing the wristbands and were collected. Participants also filled out a survey, gave a urine sample, and a vaping pod. Six dyads (n=12) were analyzed using the baseline (month 1) and month 2 surveys. Only baseline and month 2 data were included. Results: Baseline results indicated that in the past 7 days, vapers had higher secondhand vapor exposure at their residence (83.33%), compared to non-vapers (66.7%). In the past 24 hours, vapers had a higher exposure at a friend’s home (33.33%), compared to non-vapers (20%). Month 2 revealed that in the past 7 days, vapers had higher exposure at a friend’s home (83.33%), compared to non-vapers (66.67%). In the past 24 hours, vapers had higher exposure at a friend’s home (50%) and in a public area (50%), compared to non-vapers ((33.33%), (16.67%)). Conclusion: Our study concluded that vapers had higher secondhand vapor exposure at their residence, at a friend’s house, and in a public area. Exposure to secondhand vapor in social settings may be a contributing factor towards engaging in e-cigarette/vaping behavior. However, given the pilot nature of this work, more research on dyad vaping is needed to fill the gaps of existing literature.