Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2023 Nov 6;16(11):e255844.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2023-255844.

Clinical course and treatment interventions for adolescents who vaped during the COVID-19 pandemic

Alex Su  1 , Daisy Albarran Garcia  2 , Mandy Li  1 , Chinyere Ogbonna  1 , Thomas Tsang  1 , Alex Tsang  1 , Chynna Bantug  1 , Wynnyee Tom  1 , Brooke Harris  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Clinical course and treatment interventions for adolescents who vaped during the COVID-19 pandemic

Alex Su et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Vaping nicotine and marijuana have been increasing among adolescents in the past 5 years. Tetrahydrocannabinol is the psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana. The COVID-19 pandemic created gaps in healthcare access and visits, making it difficult to collect accurate data on adolescent vaping, willingness to quit and methods used to quit. In addition, the literature lacks information regarding effective evidence-based treatment measures for adolescents who vape. In this report, we seek to address this using two patient cases and detailing the interventions a managed care organisation enacted during this timeframe. Our investigation revealed a relationship between social stressors and vaping among teens. Addressing these underlying stressors and eliciting and treating mental health symptoms and polysubstance use appears to be critical to curbing vaping.

Keywords: Child and adolescent psychiatry (paediatrics); Drugs misuse (including addiction); Medical management; Paediatric prescribing; Smoking and tobacco.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Scheck T, Srivastava H. As concerns rise over youth vaping, Juul quickly puts together an army of lobbyists. Juul Muscles Up | APM Reports. 2022. Available: https://www.apmreports.org/story/2019/09/17/juul-lobbying-youth-vaping [Accessed 31 Jan 2022].
    1. Miech R, Leventhal A, Johnston L, et al. . Trends in use and perceptions of nicotine vaping among US youth from 2017 to 2020. JAMA Pediatr 2021;175:185–90. 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5667 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tai H, Swartz MD, Marsden D, et al. . The future of substance abuse now: relationships among adolescent use of vaping devices, marijuana, and synthetic cannabinoids. Subst Use Misuse 2021;56:192–204. 10.1080/10826084.2020.1849305 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chaplin MD, Brogie J, Burch A, et al. . Effectiveness of an educational intervention on health risks of vaping for high school-aged adolescents. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003) 2020;60:e158–61. 10.1016/j.japh.2020.05.008 - DOI - PubMed
    1. US surgeon general’s report: preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults. 2012. Available: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/preventing-youth-tobacco-use/ - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources