The effect of an educational intervention on high school students' knowledge about vaping-related risks and expressed desire to quit vaping.

Aim: Electronic cigarette use (vaping) has increased rapidly among adolescents globally. Most electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) contain nicotine, which is addictive and can cause behaviour problems and mood dysregulation. We sought to assess whether an educational intervention increased knowledge about vaping-related health risks and desire to quit among high school students. We assessed whether the effects differed between in-person or online intervention.

Method: The analysis included 332 students from four high schools in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Students were randomly assigned to an in-person or online group and completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Risk factors for smoking and vaping were assessed with logistic regression. Schools' socio-economic status was imputed from their Equity Index rank. Intervention effects were assessed with and without demographic covariates using mixed-effect linear regression.

Results: Students attending schools in lower socio-economic areas and those with Māori ethnicity were at greater risk of smoking and vaping. Risk of smoking increased with year level; however, risk of vaping did not. There was significant improvement in responses to 3 out of 10 knowledge questions, and there was no evidence that post-intervention scores were affected by participant characteristics. The in-person group showed higher percentage improvements than the online group. Expressed desire to quit vaping increased from 61.7% to 68.8%; however, there was significantly greater desire to quit vaping in students from years 9 and 10 than years 11 and 12 (P=0.043).

Conclusion: Our educational intervention improved the knowledge of high school students on vaping-related health risks and increased expressed desire to quit vaping.