Date of Award

12-21-2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

Public Health

First Advisor

Dr. Shanta Rishi Dube

Second Advisor

Dr. Ruiyan Luo

Abstract

Introduction: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-operated devices that entered the U.S. markets in 2007 and are marketed as safe alternatives to traditional cigarettes. The nicotine present in the e-cigarettes and the amount of vapor produced is a major concern for oral health. The purpose of this study is to report on the estimates for e-cigarette use from two different national surveys in the United States and to assess the association between e-cigarette use and outcomes related to dental care.

Methods: Data from the 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (n=5884), and from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (n=33,672) were used in the analysis. SAS 9.4 was used to calculate the prevalence of e-cigarette use (ever and current use of e-cigarettes) and dental care (past year dental office visit) by sociodemographic variables for 2015-2016 NHANES and 2015 NHIS. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between e-cigarette use and utilization of dental care separately for NHANES and NHIS, adjusting for age, sex, education, race, income, affordability of care and other tobacco use.

Results: The prevalence of ever use and current use from the 2015-2016 NHANES was 20.30% (95% C.I. 18.31-22.29) and, 5.40% (95% C.I. 4.73-6.06) respectively. In the 2015 NHIS the prevalence was 13.06% (95% C.I. 12.53-13.58) for ever e-cigarette use and 4.50% (95% C.I. 4.22-4.79) for current use. The prevalence of past year dental office visit from 2015-2016 NHANES was 58.78% (95% C.I. 54.88-62.68) and from NHIS was 62.71% (95% C.I. 62.02-63.4). Multivariate logistic regression models using NHANES data indicated that there is no difference between current e-cigarette users and non-users with respect to making a past year dental visit [AOR= 1.04 (95% C.I. 0.64-1.70)] and NHIS data indicated that current e-cigarette users were less likely to make a past year dental visit [AOR= 0.69 (95% C.I. 0.60-0.80)].

Conclusions: The non-overlapping of 95% confidence intervals for the prevalence of ever use indicate a significant difference between 2015-2016 NHANES and 2015 NHIS with respect to ever e-cigarette usage. Considering different factors such as sample size, response rate, position of the questions and mode of administration is encouraged before choosing the estimates from different surveys.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/13444737

Download

Share

COinS