Youth E-Cigarette Screening: Advice, Impact, & Perception
2023 Bridge Graduate John Acosta-Peñaloza partnered with faculty mentors, Karen Geletko, MPH, and Jon Mills, Ph.D., on his Bridge research project titled “Demographic Characteristics Associated With Adolescent Receipt of Provider E-Cigarette Screening and Advice and the Impact on Harm Perception.”
Published in AJMP Focus, this study examines the frequency at which providers screen adolescents for e-cigarette use and advise against use during healthcare visits. It also examines associations between provider intervention and adolescent harm perception. In this manuscript, the researchers demonstrate that provider intervention was more likely among those aged 13-18, who are male, White and/or non-Hispanic, and that provider intervention was associated with the belief that e-cigarettes are equally or more addictive the cigarettes. These findings have implications for altering physician-patient interaction which can ultimately contribute to the prevention of e-cigarette initiation among youth.