Abstract
Biomarkers can be used to assess smoking behaviour more accurately and objectively than self-report. This study assessed the association between cotinine (a biomarker of smoke exposure) and later e-cigarette use among a population who were unexposed to e-cigarettes in youth. Young people in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children took part in the study. We observed associations between cotinine at 15 years (measured between 2006 and 2008 before the wide availability of e-cigarettes) and self-reported ever use of e-cigarettes at 22 (measured between 2014 and 2015 when e-cigarettes were widely available) using logistic regression. A range of potential confounders were adjusted for (age, sex, body mass index, alcohol use and passive smoke exposure). Additionally, we adjusted for the young people’s self-reported smoking status/history to explore potential misreporting and measurement error. In a sample of N = 1,194 young people, cotinine levels consistent with active smoking at 15 years were associated with increased odds of e-cigarette ever use at 22 years (Odds Ratio [OR] = 7.24, 95% CI 3.29 to 15.93) even when self-reported active smoking status at age 16 (OR = 3.14, 95% CI 1.32 to 7.48) and latent classes of smoking behaviour from 14 to 16 (OR = 2.70, 95% CI 0.98 to 7.44) were included in the model. Cotinine levels consistent with smoking in adolescence were strongly associated with increased odds of later e-cigarette use, even after adjusting for reported smoking behaviour at age 16 and smoking transitions from 14 to 16.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0235629 |
| Journal | PLoS ONE |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Jul 2020 |
Data Availability Statement
Data cannot be shared publicly because the ALSPAC Ethics and Law Committee and the Local Research Ethics Committees have imposed restrictions on the data availability. However, the data used in this study can be made available on request to the ALSPAC Executive ([email protected]). The ALSPAC data management plan describes in detail the policy regarding data sharing, which is through a system of managed open access. Full instructions for applying for data access can be found here: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/researchers/access/. The ALSPAC study website contains details of all the data that are available (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/researchers/our-data/). Access is subject to eligibility, the ALSPAC funder’s terms and conditions and University of Bristol policies and procedures.Funding
The UK Medical Research Council (https://mrc.ukri.org/) and Wellcome (https://wellcome.ac.uk/)(Grant ref: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. This publication is the work of the authors who will serve as guarantors for the contents of this paper. A comprehensive list of grants funding is available on the ALSPAC website (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf). The authors are supported by the UK Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (MC_UU_00011/7, MM_UU_00011/5). This work was also supported by CRUK (https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/)(grant numbers C18281/ A19169 and C57854/A22171), Wellcome Trust and the UK Medical Research Council (grant number: 092731). RCR is a de Pass Vice Chancellor Research Fellow at the University of Bristol (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/vc-fellows/about/health/de-pass/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
- General
