It is unclear whether use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) precedes cigarette smoking initiation, relapse, and/or quitting. Healthcare systems with electronic health records (EHRs) provide unique data to examine ENDS use and changes in smoking. We examined the incidence of ENDS use (2012-2015) based on clinician documentation and tested whether EHR documented ENDS use is associated with twelve-month changes in patient smoking status using a matched retrospective cohort design. The sample was Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) patients aged ≥12 with documented ENDS use (N = 7926); 57% were current smokers, 35% former smokers, and 8% never-smokers. ENDS documentation incidence peaked in 2014 for current and former smokers and in 2015 for never-smokers. We matched patients with documented ENDS use to KPNC patients without documented ENDS use (N = 7926) on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and smoking status. Documented ENDS use predicted the likelihood of smoking in the following year. Among current smokers, ENDS use was associated with greater odds of quitting smoking (OR = 1.17, 95%CI = 1.05-1.31). Among former smokers, ENDS use was associated with greater odds of smoking relapse (OR = 1.53, 95%CI = 1.22-1.92). Among never-smokers, ENDS use was associated with greater odds of initiating smoking (OR = 7.41, 95%CI = 3.14-17.5). The overall number of current smokers at 12 months was slightly higher among patients with (N = 3931) versus without (N = 3850) documented ENDS use. Results support both potential harm reduction of ENDS use (quitting combustibles among current smokers) and potential for harm (relapse to combustibles among former smokers, initiation for never-smokers).

BackgroundTobacco smoking is a major cause of chronic disease worldwide. Smoking may induce cellular and molecular changes including epigenetic modification, with both short-term and long-term modification patterns that may contribute to phenotypic expression of diseases. Recent epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) have identified dozens of smoking-related DNA methylation (DNAm) sites. However, the X chromosomal DNAm sites have been largely overlooked due to a lack of an analytical framework for dealing with the sex-dimorphic distribution. To identify novel smoking-related DNAm sites on the X chromosome, we examined the modality of each X chromosomal DNAm site and conducted a sex-specific association study of cigarette smoking.ResultsWe used a discovery sample of 139 middle-age twins, and three replication samples of 78 twins, 464 and 333 unrelated individuals including 47, 17, 22, and 89 current smokers, respectively. After correction for multiple testing, the top smoking-related DNAm sites in BCOR and TSC22D3 were significantly hypermethylated and hypomethylated, respectively, among current smokers. These smoking-associated sites were replicated with meta-analysis p-values of 9.17 × 10−12 and 1.61 × 10−9. For both sites, the smoking effects on methylation levels were larger in males than that in females.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the importance of investigating X chromosome methylation patterns and their associations with environmental exposures and disease phenotypes and demonstrate a robust statistical methodology for such study. Existing EWAS of human diseases should incorporate the X chromosomal sites to complete a comprehensive epigenome-wide scan.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13148-016-0189-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has increased substantially over the past decade. However, unlike smoking, which is systematically captured by clinicians through routine screening and discrete documentation fields in the electronic health record (EHR), unknown is the extent to which clinicians are documenting patients’ use of ENDS. Data were gathered from medical visits with patients aged 12 and older (N = 9,119; 55% male) treated in a large, integrated healthcare system. We used natural language processing to assess the incidence rates of clinician documentation of patients’ ENDS use in unstructured tobacco comments in the EHR, and the words most frequently documented in relation to ENDS, from 2006–2015. ENDS documentation in the EHR increased dramatically over time (from 0.01 to 9.5 per 10,000 patients, p < 0.0001), particularly among adults aged 18–24 and 25–44. Most prevalent were “e-cig,” “electronic cigarettes”, and “vape,” with much variation in spelling and phrasing of these words. Records of adolescent and young adult patients were more likely to contain the word “vape”, and less likely to have “e-cig” and “electronic cigarette” than records of adults (ps < 0.0001). The relatively low observed number of patients with ENDS terms in the EHR suggested vast under documentation. While healthcare providers are increasingly documenting patients’ use of ENDS in the EHR, overall documentation rates remain low. Discrete EHR fields for standard screening and documentation of ENDS that reflect the language used by patients would provide more complete longitudinal population-level surveillance of ENDS use and its association with short- and long-term health outcomes.

Objectives To examine rates of smoking and tobacco treatment utilization by insurance coverage status (Medicaid, commercial, exchange) among newly enrolled patients in the post ACA era. Methods We examined new members who enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) through Medicaid, the California exchange, or non-exchange commercial plans (N=122,298) in the first six months of 2014 following ACA implementation. We compared these groups on smoking prevalence and tested whether smokers in each group differed on sociodemographic characteristics and in their utilization of tobacco treatment (pharmacotherapy and counseling) in 2014. Results Smoking prevalence was higher among Medicaid (22%) than exchange (13%) or commercial (12%) patients (p<.0001). Controlling for key sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, Medicaid (OR=1.49, 95% CI=1.29–1.73) smokers had greater odds of tobacco treatment use than commercial smokers. Other groups at risk for underuse included men, younger patients, Asians and Latinos. Conclusions In this cohort of newly enrolled patients after ACA implementation, Medicaid patients were more likely to be smokers compared to exchange and commercial patients, but they were also more likely to use tobacco treatment. Low tobacco treatment use among exchange and commercial plan smokers, as well as younger men, Asians and Latinos poses a significant obstacle to improving public health and additional targeted outreach strategies may be need to engage these patients with available health services.

SA is associated with increases in psychiatric disorders and stress-related somatic conditions as well as increases in utilization of psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology. Clinicians should be trained in how to inquire about, respond to, and refer women who have experienced SA.

Objectives Smokers on chronic opioid therapy for non-cancer pain use prescription opioids at higher dosages and are at increased risk for opioid misuse and dependence relative to non-smokers. The current study aims to assess whether smoking is associated with problems and concerns with chronic opioid therapy from the perspective of the patient. Methods In a large sample (N = 972) of adult patients prescribed opioids for chronic noncancer pain, we examined sex-specific associations between smoking status and patient perceptions of problems and concerns with chronic opioid therapy using regression analyses, adjusting for covariates. Results The sample self-identified as 27% current smokers, 44% former smokers, and 29% never smokers. Current smoking (vs. never smoking) was associated with increased odds of an opioid use disorder among males and females, and higher daily opioid dose among males only. Current and former smokers reported significantly fewer problems with opioids relative to never smokers, and this was driven primarily by lower endorsement of problems that are affected by the stimulant properties of nicotine (e.g., difficulties thinking clearly, felt less alert or sleepy). Discussion This study contributes to an understanding of perceived problems and concerns with chronic opioid therapy among current, former, and never smokers with chronic noncancer pain. Results suggest that current and former smokers may be a difficult population to target to decrease chronic opioid therapy, given that they perceive fewer problems with prescription opioid use, despite higher odds of having an opioid use disorder (males and females) and greater opioid doses (males only).

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) promised to narrow smoking disparities by expanding access to healthcare and mandating comprehensive coverage for tobacco treatment starting in 2014. We examined whether two years after ACA implementation disparities in receiving clinician advice to quit and smokers' knowledge and use of treatment resources remained. We conducted telephone interviews in 2016 with a stratified random sample of self-reported smokers newly enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California's (KPNC) integrated healthcare delivery system in 2014 ( N = 491; 50% female; 53% non-white; 6% Spanish language). We used Poisson regression with robust standard errors to test whether sociodemographics, insurance type, comorbidities, smoking status in 2016 (former, light/nondaily [<5 cigarettes per day], daily), and preferred language (English or Spanish) were associated with receiving clinician advice to quit and knowledge and use of tobacco treatment. We included an interaction between smoking status and language to test whether the relation between smoking status and key outcomes varied with preferred language. Overall, 80% of respondents received clinician advice to quit, 84% knew that KPNC offers cessation counseling, 54% knew that cessation pharmacotherapy is free, 54% used pharmacotherapy, and 6% used counseling. In multivariate models, Spanish-speaking light/nondaily smokers had significantly lower rates of all outcomes, while there was no association with other demographic and clinical characteristics. Following ACA implementation, most smokers newly enrolled in KPNC received clinician advice to quit and over half used pharmacotherapy, yet counseling utilization was low. Spanish-language outreach efforts and treatment services are recommended, particularly for adults who are light/nondaily smokers.

Objectives: We examined the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated elimination of tobacco cessation pharmacotherapy (TCP) copayments on patient use of TCP, overall and by income. Methods: Electronic health record data captured any and combination (e.g., nicotine gum plus patch) TCP use among adult smokers newly enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC). KPNC eliminated TCP copayments in 2015. We included current smokers newly enrolled in the first 6 months of 2014 (before copayment elimination; N=16,199) or 2015 (after elimination; N=16,469). Multivariable models estimated one-year changes in rates of any TCP fill, and of combination TCP fill, and tested for differences by income (<$50K, $50–75K, ≥$75K). Through telephone surveys in 2016 with a subset of smokers newly enrolled in 2014 (n = 306), we assessed barriers to TCP use, with results stratified by income. Results: Smokers enrolled in KPNC in 2015 versus 2014 were more likely to have a TCP fill (9.1% vs. 8.2%; RR=1.19, 95%CI=1.11–1.27), and combination TCP fill, among those with any fill (42.3% vs. 37.9%; RR=1.12, 95%CI=1.02–1.23); findings were stronger for low-income smokers. Low-income patients (<$50K) were less likely to report that clinicians discussed smoking treatments with them (58%) compared to higher income smokers ($50–75K, 67%; ≥$75K, 83%), and were less aware that TCP was free (40% vs. 53% and 69%, respectively, ps<.05). Conclusions: The ACA’s copayment elimination was associated with a modest increase in TCP use and a greater effect among low-income smokers. Uptake may have been enhanced if promoted to patients directly and via providers.