E-Cigarette Use Among Older Adults with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: Relationship With History of Cigarette Smoking.

Objective: To identify self-reported electronic cigarette use and its associations with demographic, spinal cord injury (SCI), socioeconomic, and cigarette smoking history variables among adults with SCI. Design: Cross-sectional self-report study. Setting: Medical University. Participants: Patients (N=1253) with traumatic SCI who averaged 56.7 years of age and 24.1 years since onset. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported e-cigarette use, cigarette smoking history. Results: 16.3% had used e-cigarettes and 4.9% were current users. Both current cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR], 4.20; confidence interval [CI], 2.45-7.18) and smoking history (OR, 3.55; CI, 2.25-5.60) were related to a history of vaping, as was having some college, but no degree compared with those with no education beyond high school (OR, 1.89; CI, 1.15-3.13). Non-Hispanic Black participants reported lower odds of vaping history than non-Hispanic whites (OR, 0.55; CI, 0.31-0.96). Compared with those under 40, each of 3 age groups reported lower odds of a history of vaping. Odds of current e-cigarette use were higher among those with a smoking history (OR, 5.71; CI, 2.62-12.42); and lower for those between the ages of 51-60 (OR, 0.37, CI, 0.14-0.96) and those 60 and older (OR, 0.11, CI, 0.03-0.38), compared with those under the age of 40. Conclusions: E-cigarette was most strongly related to age and smoking history. It is important to evaluate e-cigarette use and their potential consequences and implement intervention strategies.