Medical trainees’ knowledge and attitudes towards electronic cigarettes and Hookah

Abstract

Background: Use of e-cigarettes and hookah has increased worldwide. Medical trainees will soon be practicing physicians, managing smoking, influencing perception of risks and impacting regulation policies.

Aims: To investigate medical trainees’ knowledge and attitudes towards vaping and hookah.

Methods: Online survey of medical students and residents in Brazil (BR), United States (US) and India(IN), recruited via e-mails and social media, using convenience sampling.

Results: We enrolled 6487 students (BR=2768, US=2523, IN=1169) and 1095 residents (BR=328, US =544, IN=197). 2033 were senior students or residents and were included in this analysis of knowledge and attitudes. 59,4% believed vaping poses similar or higher health risks than smoking, while for 27.3% risks are lower and 12.9% did not know. Half of participants agreed or neither agreed or disagreed that vaping could be used for smoking cessation. 63,1% believed smoking hookah poses similar or higher risks than cigarettes, while for 14.6% risks are lower and 16.8% did not know. Only 45.7% and 40.4% remembered attending a class on vaping and hookah in medical school. Their most common sources of information were social media (54.5%), Google(40.7%), friends/relatives (40.2%), and newspapers/magazines(38.8%). Only 26.8% read scientific articles as a source of information.

Conclusions: Respiratory societies of all 3 countries are against vaping for smoking cessation, and e-cigarettes are banned in Brazil and India. Yet, a large proportion of senior trainees have a biased perception of vaping and hookah risks, with many endorsing vaping to quit smoking. If not addressed, this issue may risk years of efforts against the renormalization of smoking.