Effectiveness of an educational intervention on health risks of vaping for high school-aged adolescents

The primary objective of this research was to identify if an educational intervention increased the knowledge of high school adolescents on the social and health risks associated with vaping. The secondary objectives included measuring the prevalence of vaping habits and the attitudes of adolescents on the safety of vaping.

This research was conducted with adolescents at a single high school. An evidence-based educational intervention was provided on the health risks associated with vaping PRODUCTS: Data were collected using a pre- and postsurvey tool. The material presented was targeted on the basis of age and making the information relevant and easy to understand.

A total of 235 participants showed a 14% increase in scores from the pre- to postsurvey, indicating an increase in knowledge (P < 0.001). Gender was not a predictor for vaping behavior, but grade level was. A significantly higher proportion of participants who vaped reported vaping being safer than smoking than those who did not vape (χ² = 13.31, P = 0.001). The most common reason for vaping was stress reduction. For the participants who reported vaping, the most common reason indicated that would motivate them to stop the use of vaping products was concern regarding the negative impact on personal or family health (n = 43).

An educational intervention was successful in improving high school students' knowledge on the risks associated with vaping. Knowledge on health risk was the most common reported reason for which students would stop vaping.