E-cigarette use and sleep-related complaints among youth

Introduction: E-cigarette use is highly prevalent among adolescents. However, little research has examined the relationship between e-cigarette use and sleep-related complaints in this population. The objective of this study was to assess whether exclusive e-cigarette, exclusive combusted cigarette, and dual-product use are associated with sleep-related complaints among adolescents.

Methods: Participants were 9,588 U.S. adolescents from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, a nationally representative cohort, followed from 2013 through 2015. Using logistic regression, we examined the cross-sectional association between past-year e-cigarette, combusted cigarette, or dual-product use and past-year sleep-related complaints (bad dreams, sleeping restlessly, or falling asleep during the day), both measured at Wave 2. We controlled for Wave 1 demographic characteristics, emotional and behavioral health, and prior history of e-cigarette use, combusted cigarette use, and sleep-related complaints.

Results: In unadjusted analyses, e-cigarette, combusted cigarette, and dual-product use were significantly associated with greater odds of sleep-related complaints, compared to use of neither product (e-cigarettes: OR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.34-1.94; combusted cigarettes: OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.26-2.09; dual-product use: OR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.63-2.46). Associations between e-cigarette and dual-product use and sleep-related complaints remained significant in fully adjusted analyses (e-cigarettes: aOR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.05-1.59; dual-product use: aOR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.24-1.99), whereas associations with combusted cigarette use were significant in all models except the fully adjusted model (aOR = 1.30, 95% CI 0.98-1.71).

Conclusions: E-cigarette and dual-product use are significantly associated with greater odds of reporting sleep-related complaints among adolescents. Future research should evaluate whether this association may be causal.