TY - JOUR
T1 - Characteristics and outcomes of e-cigarette exposure incidents reported to 10 European Poison Centers
T2 - a retrospective data analysis
AU - Vardavas, Constantine I
AU - Girvalaki, Charis
AU - Filippidis, Filippos T.
AU - Oder, Mare
AU - Kastanje, Ruth
AU - de Vries, Irma
AU - Scholtens, Lies
AU - Annas, Anita
AU - Plackova, Silvia
AU - Turk, Rajka
AU - Gruzdyte, Laima
AU - Rato, Fátima
AU - Genser, Dieter
AU - Schiel, Helmut
AU - Balázs, Andrea
AU - Donohoe, Elaine
AU - Vardavas, Alexander I
AU - Tzatzarakis, Manolis N
AU - Tsatsakis, Aristidis M
AU - Behrakis, Panagiotis K
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2017/8
Y1 - 2017/8
N2 - Background: The use of e-cigarettes has increased during the past few years. Exposure to e-cigarette liquids, whether intentional or accidental, may lead to adverse events our aim was to assess factors associated with e-cigarette exposures across European Union Member States (EU MS). Methods: A retrospective analysis of exposures associated with e-cigarettes reported to national poison centers was performed covering incidents from 2012 to March 2015 from 10 EU MS. De-identified and anonymous raw data was acquired. Results: In total, 277 incidents were reported. Unintentional exposure was the most frequently cited type of exposure (71.3%), while e-cigarette refill vials were responsible for the majority of the reported incidents (87.3%). Two-thirds of all exposures (67.5%) occurred as ingestion of e-liquids, which was more frequent among children (≤ 5 years, 6-18 years) compared to adults (87.0% vs. 59.3% vs. 57.6%, p < 0.001 respectively), exposure via the respiratory (5.4% vs. 22.2% vs. 22.2%, p < 0.001) were more frequent among paediatric patients while ocular routes (2.2% vs. 3.7% vs. 11.4%, p = 0.021) were more frequent among adults. Logistic regression analyses indicated that paediatric incidents (≤ 5 years) were more likely to be through ingestion (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 4.36, 95% Confidence Interval [C.I.]: 1.87-10.18), but less likely to have a reported clinical effect (aOR = 0.41, 95% C.I.: 0.21-0.82). Conclusions: Our study highlighted parameters related to e-cigarette exposure incidents in 10 EU MS, the results of which indicate that consideration should be given to the design features which may mitigate risks, thereby protecting users, non-users and especially children.
AB - Background: The use of e-cigarettes has increased during the past few years. Exposure to e-cigarette liquids, whether intentional or accidental, may lead to adverse events our aim was to assess factors associated with e-cigarette exposures across European Union Member States (EU MS). Methods: A retrospective analysis of exposures associated with e-cigarettes reported to national poison centers was performed covering incidents from 2012 to March 2015 from 10 EU MS. De-identified and anonymous raw data was acquired. Results: In total, 277 incidents were reported. Unintentional exposure was the most frequently cited type of exposure (71.3%), while e-cigarette refill vials were responsible for the majority of the reported incidents (87.3%). Two-thirds of all exposures (67.5%) occurred as ingestion of e-liquids, which was more frequent among children (≤ 5 years, 6-18 years) compared to adults (87.0% vs. 59.3% vs. 57.6%, p < 0.001 respectively), exposure via the respiratory (5.4% vs. 22.2% vs. 22.2%, p < 0.001) were more frequent among paediatric patients while ocular routes (2.2% vs. 3.7% vs. 11.4%, p = 0.021) were more frequent among adults. Logistic regression analyses indicated that paediatric incidents (≤ 5 years) were more likely to be through ingestion (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 4.36, 95% Confidence Interval [C.I.]: 1.87-10.18), but less likely to have a reported clinical effect (aOR = 0.41, 95% C.I.: 0.21-0.82). Conclusions: Our study highlighted parameters related to e-cigarette exposure incidents in 10 EU MS, the results of which indicate that consideration should be given to the design features which may mitigate risks, thereby protecting users, non-users and especially children.
KW - Europe
KW - Poison centers
KW - Poisoning
KW - e-liquid
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027495378&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12971-017-0141-z
DO - 10.1186/s12971-017-0141-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 28824358
SN - 2070-7266
VL - 15
JO - Tobacco induced diseases
JF - Tobacco induced diseases
IS - 1
M1 - 36
ER -