Electronic cigarette use during pregnancy and the risk of adverse birth outcomes: A cross-sectional surveillance study of the US Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System

• Published in: PloS one 2023-10, Vol.18 (10), p.e0287348
• Main Authors: Ammar, Lin, Tindle, Hilary A, Miller, Angela M, Adgent, Margaret A, Nian, Hui, Ryckman, Kelli K, Mogos, Mulubrhan, Piano, Mariann R, Xie, Ethan, Snyder, Brittney M, Ramesh, Abhismitha, Yu, Chang, Hartert, Tina V, Wu, Pingsheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Complications and side effects; Electronic cigarettes; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Infants (Premature); Methods; Pregnant women; Premature birth; Prevention; Risk assessment; Risk factors; Smoking in pregnancy
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287348

Women with singleton live births who participated in the US Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey study 2016-2020 were classified into four mutually exclusive groups, by their use of ECs and combustible cigarettes (CCs) during pregnancy: non-use, EC only use, CC only use, and dual use. We determined the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) by comparing cigarette users to non-users with a modified Poisson regression model adjusting for covariates. In a subset of women who all used ECs prior to pregnancy, we determined whether quitting EC use reduces the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and SGA by comparing to those who continued its use. All analyses were weighted to account for the PRAMS survey design and non-response rate. Of the 190,707 women (weighted N = 10,202,413) included, 92.1% reported cigarette non-use, 0.5% EC only use, 6.7% CC only use, and 0.7% dual use during pregnancy. Compared with non-use, EC only use was associated with a significantly increased risk of preterm birth (adjusted risk ratio [aRR]: 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.65) and low birth weight (aRR: 1.38, 95%CI: 1.09, 1.75), but not SGA (aRR: 1.04, 95%CI: 0.76, 1.44). Among 7,877 (weighted N = 422,533) women EC users, quitting use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of low birth weight (aRR: 0.76, 95%CI: 0.62, 0.94) and SGA (aRR: 0.77, 95%CI: 0.62, 0.94) compared to those who continued to use ECs during pregnancy. Pregnancy EC use, by itself or dual use with CC, is associated with preterm birth and low birth weight. Quitting use reduces that risk. ECs should not be considered as a safe alternative nor a viable gestational smoking cessation strategy.