Assessment of School Staff Knowledge and Perceptions of Student E-cigarette Use and Resource Needs, and E-cigarettes Confiscated at 12 North Carolina High Schools — 2019

Details

• Alternative Title:
  N C Med J
• Personal Author:
  Tanz, Lauren J. ; Heck, Courtney ; Herzig, Carolyn T. A. ; Ranney, Leah M. ; Herndon, Sally ; Martin, Jim ; Hast, Marisa ; McGowan, Eileen ; Baler, Guido ; Shamout, Mays ; King, Brian A. ; Tynan, Michael A. ; Kansagra, Susan M.
  More +
• Description:
  BACKGROUND ; E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among US youth and are regularly used on school grounds. We assessed school staff’s awareness of students’ e-cigarette use, response by schools, and resources needed to address use, and examined e-cigarettes confiscated by school staff in North Carolina to guide prevention and identify needed resources. ; METHODS ; In May 2019, staff from a random sample of 25 of 451 North Carolina public and charter high schools were invited to complete an online survey and semistructured interview; 12 schools consented to ≥ 1 component (survey, N = 514; interviews, N = 35). Staff knowledge and perceptions of students’ e-cigarette use and school tobacco policies were assessed, including school efforts to address e-cigarette use. E-cigarette products confiscated by nine schools from students during the 2018–2019 school year were collected. ; LIMITATIONS ; Only 12 public high schools participated, and these schools might not be representative of all North Carolina high schools. Quantitative surveys were not collected from all staff at participating schools; however, the response rate was 62% and included different staff positions and both urban and rural schools. Finally, e-cigarette products collected by schools might not be representative of all devices used by students. ; RESULTS ; Among surveyed staff, 33% observed students using e-cigarettes on school grounds; 86% believed e-cigarette use somewhat or largely contributes to learning disruptions. Overall, 94% of respondents knew their school’s policy prohibits student e-cigarette use on school grounds, and 57% were not confident their school has resources to help students quit. From 35 interviews, themes included concern that schools’ tobacco-free policies do not deter use and additional resources are needed to address e-cigarette use in schools. Of 336 collected devices, there were different e-cigarette types and most (65%) e-liquid bottles were flavored. ; CONCLUSION ; Efforts are warranted to incorporate evidence-based curricula; educate staff, parents, and youth regarding health risks of e-cigarette use; and help youth quit e-cigarettes.
• Source:
  N C Med J. 84(6)
• Pubmed ID:
  38919376
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11198923
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  84
• Issue:
  6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/158162/cdc_158162_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 407.21 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6473384cd02875a2ac1c873193cd697509f12d71490f63da7f14a7631a08e88e53a4ca1e7e412d5da523ce15b13880662fdc1c8829ccfd0ec7411a3e311e3927