Summary
Summary: Active smokers with asthma have a higher risk of asthma episodes compared to nonsmokers. Exposure to marijuana smoke or using e-cigarettes may also increase the frequency of these episodes in individuals with asthma. The association between these factors and asthma attacks may vary based on self-reported gender.
Authors used 2021 Adult California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data of 24,453 participants and included 4,260 participants with current asthma. Researchers examined the associations between asthma attacks, smoking status, e-cigarette use, marijuana smoke exposure, gender, and education level.
Findings: 1,313 (30.82%) asthmatics had an asthma episode/attack in the past 12 months, 2,947 (69.2%) self-reported female, 286 (6.7%) current smokers, 138 (3.2%) e-cigarette users, and 1,722 (40.4%) had marijuana smoke exposure. Current smokers had 1.31 times higher odds of an asthma attack than nonsmokers. Gender and lower education were also significant predictors, where self-identified males were 0.57 times and those with some college education were 0.95 times less likely to have had asthma attacks. There was no association between asthma attacks and e-cigarette use or marijuana exposure.
Among this population, there was a positive association between current tobacco smoking, self-identified female gender, and lower education level with asthma episodes. However, authors did not find an association with e-cigarette use or marijuana exposure. These results underscore the importance of targeted interventions and smoking cessation efforts aimed at reducing the burden of asthma in vulnerable populations.
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