• Olufunmilayo H Obisesan, Albert D Osei, S M Iftekhar Uddin, Omar Dzaye, Miguel Cainzos-Achirica, Mohammadhassan Mirbolouk, Olusola A Orimoloye, Garima Sharma, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Andrew Stokes, Aruni Bhatnagar, Omar El Shahawy, Emelia J Benjamin, Andrew P DeFilippis, and Michael J Blaha.
• Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Baltimore, Maryland; American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center, Dallas, Texas.
• Am J Prev Med. 2020 Aug 1; 59 (2): 187-195.

IntroductionThe prevalence of e-cigarette use has increased dramatically in the last decade in the U.S. Understanding the prevalence, patterns of use, and risk factor associations of e-cigarette use in pregnant women is particularly important, as this could have potential health implications for the mother and the developing child.MethodsUsing Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey data from 2016 to 2018, adult women of reproductive age (18-49 years) who reported being pregnant (n=7,434) were studied. Self-reported current e-cigarette use was the main exposure. Other measures included combustible cigarette smoking status and high-risk behaviors (including other tobacco, marijuana, or heavy alcohol use; binge drinking; and others). All analyses were done in 2019.ResultsApproximately 2.2% of pregnant women reported current e-cigarette use, of whom 0.6% reported daily use. The highest prevalence of e-cigarette use was observed in the youngest age group of pregnant women (3.2%), with 41.7% of all pregnant current e-cigarette users being aged 18-24 years. There was a marked increase in the prevalence of current use of e-cigarettes among pregnant women from 1.9% in 2016 to 3.8% in 2018. Approximately 46% of pregnant current e-cigarette users reported concomitant cigarette smoking. Compared with pregnant never e-cigarette users, pregnant current e-cigarette users had a higher prevalence of other tobacco product use, marijuana use, heavy alcohol intake, binge drinking, and other high-risk behaviors.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the need to strengthen prevention and policy efforts, specifically in the vulnerable subgroup of pregnant women.Copyright © 2020 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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