New Mexico Pediatric Society

Introduction

E-cigarette use among youth has quickly become the new epidemic our nation is facing. The adolescent brain is uniquely sensitive to the addictive nature of nicotine, potentially setting our youth up for a lifetime of nicotine addiction. Further exacerbating the problem is the multitude of enticing e-cigarette flavors, combined with targeted advertising to youth. For these reasons, it is not surprising that 1 in 4 youth report using e-cigarettes in the last month. What is our role as pediatricians, parents, or teachers to help mitigate this epidemic and its potentially devastating consequences?

 

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Resources for Practitioners

 

General E-cigarette Information for Physicians

• E-Cigarette Information (AAP facts and resources)

• E-Cigarettes and Similar Devices (AAP policy statement; for more in-depth information; 10 pages; pdf)

• Health Care Professionals: Educate Your Young Patients About the Risks of E-cigarettes (CDC fact sheet; with guidelines for clinicians on how to educate youth about the risks of e-cigarettes; 4 pages; pdf)

 

Handouts on General E-Cigarette Information for Physicians

• E-Cigarettes and Vaping: What Clinicians Need to Know (AAP fact sheet; includes basic facts on e-Cigarettes; 2 pages; pdf)

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Clinical Tools for Supporting Youth Tobacco Cessation

• Youth Tobacco Cessation: How to ACT (Ask-Counsel-Treat)
  in 2-3 Minutes (AAP flowchart; introduces the 'Ask-Counsel-Treat’ (ACT) model to minimize time and burden on the pediatric health clinician and maximize the patient’s chances of a successful quit. Pediatric health clinicians have a collective responsibility to ACT to identify youth who use tobacco and connect them with the resources they need for a successful quit)

• Supporting Youth who are Addicted to Nicotine: Advice for Pediatricians (AAP fact sheet; information on how to make a successful quit plan, follow-up, and coding resources; 1 page; pdf)

• Nicotine Dependence Screening Tools for Youth:

• Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (AAP questionnaire; 10 questions to ask youth on vaping to determine addiction; 1 page; pdf)

• The Four-Item E-cigarette Dependence Scale for Assessing Adolescent E-cigarette Nicotine Dependence (AAP questionnaire; 1 page; pdf)

• Modified Version of the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (National Institutes of Health)

 

• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Adolescent Patients (AAP fact sheet; for clinicians to understand NRT and make decisions about using it with patients; includes nicotine dependence screening tools; 5 pages; pdf)

• How to Use Nicotine Gum (smokefree.gov/veterans; 30-second video on the "chew and park" method for NRT gum)

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Resources for Schools

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• Tobacco Prevention Toolkit (Stanford Medicine toolkit; theory-based and evidence-informed resources created by educators, parents, and researchers aimed at preventing middle and high school students’ use of tobacco and nicotine)

• CATCH My Breath (CATCH.org vaping prevention program; evidence-based and free to U.S. schools; 4 lessons per age group; 30-40 minutes per lesson; suitable for ages 10-18, grades 5-12)

• The Real Cost of Vaping (Scholastic lessons, activities and more; cross-curricular resources have students analyze informational text, collect and present data, and evaluate marketing messages; suitable for grades 6-8 and 9-12; available in Spanish)

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