Understanding More about Vaping among Asian Adolescents Aged 14-15 Years Old in New Zealand: The ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey Analysis (2014-2022).

Abstract

Background: There has been an accelerated increase in vaping prevalence among adolescents worldwide, including in New Zealand. However, few studies have examined vaping among Asian adolescent populations in New Zealand. Objective: This study aimed to investigate vaping in New Zealand adolescents over time including sources of and reasons for vaping (data available for 2021 and 2022) according to ethnicity (Asian vs Non-Asian), gender (girl vs boy vs other) and Asian major subgroupings (Chinese vs Indian vs 'Other Asian'). Method: We analysed the annual ASH Year 10 Snapshot Surveys of 14 and 15 year old school-children from 2014 to 2022. We used a two-sample t-test to detect the differences between two point periods and a Chi-square test to detect associations between ethnicity and sources or reasons for vaping. Binary logistic regression was used to assess vaping trends over time. Results: From 2014 to 2022, vaping prevalence increased significantly in all adolescents (two-sided P < 0.001) while smoking prevalence decreased. However, vaping prevalence among Asian adolescents was lower and had a slower rate of growth than Non-Asian adolescents. Among Asian major subgroupings, Indian adolescents showed the highest vaping prevalence (ever vaping = 21.1%, 95% CI 18.7 - 23.7 and current vaping = 6.2%, 95% CI 4.8 - 7.8) in 2022 and, in all ethnic groupings, vaping in girls overtook that of boys. For Asian adolescents, in 2022, the most common sources of vapes was social supply (70%, P = 0.190) and the most common reason for vaping was experimentation (60%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Asian adolescents in New Zealand exhibited vaping behaviours comparable to those of their Non-Asian counterparts, with some unique patterns within subpopulations, highlighting the need for more in-depth ethnic- and gender-specific research to further examine their vaping behaviours for appropriate interventions, policies and regulations.