JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The number of adolescents and adults using e-cigarettes, referred to as "vaping", has dramatically increased. E-cigarettes can be used to perform "vape tricks", by inhaling and exhaling the e-cigarette aerosol in patterns to create visual effects or large clouds of e-cigarette aerosol. To create these effects, the puffing patterns associated with vape tricks may be different than standard ad lib e-cigarette usage. The prevalence of vape tricks and the harm associated with exposure to e-cigarette emissions when performing vape tricks is currently unknown.

Objective:

Characterize duration, heart rate, respiratory rate, tidal volume, minute volume, and physical activity metrics associated with the performance of vape tricks and characterize the emission of e-cigarettes when performing vape tricks in a manner suitable to inform novel exposure modeling.

Methods:

The study will recruit e-cigarette users with a history of performing vape tricks. Data collection will occur in two different sessions. In first session participants will be asked to puff on their e-cigarette as they normally would for 20 minutes. The second session will be a tricks session, where users will be asked to perform a series of up to 5 different vape tricks with their e-cigarette. Data will be collected through screener surveys, in-person interviews, video recordings, a personal exposure monitor, and a biometric garment.

Results:

Data analysis will be completed in the fall of 2018.

Conclusions:

This study will be used to assess the feasibility of using a biometric garment to complement environmental and observational data. The approach may provide greater insight into the health risks of performing vape tricks compared to typical e-cigarette use.