Cigarette, shisha, and electronic smoking and respiratory symptoms in Swiss children: The LUIS study

Abstract

Background: Smoking habits in adolescents are changing. We assessed active smoking of conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and shishas in Swiss schoolchildren, studied risk factors and compared respiratory problems between smokers and non-smokers. Methods: We used data from LuftiBus in the school (LUIS), a school-based survey of respiratory health of children carried out 2013 to 2016 in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Participants were asked about use of cigarettes, shishas, and electronic smoking devices (ESD), and current respiratory symptoms. We studied associations between smoking and risk factors using logistic regression. Results: We included 3488 schoolchildren. Among 6 to 12-year-olds, 90/1905 (5%) had smoked occasionally (