The findings from a recent study published in Addictive Behaviors suggest that e-cigarette use might be related to sleep deprivation in young adults.
Sleep deprivation is a strong predictive factor for many adverse health outcomes. It disrupts the functionality of different human body systems, such as immune, reproductive, and cardiovascular systems.
One potential predictor of sleep deprivation might be e-cigarette use. E-cigarette use (vaping) has dramatically increased among young adults in the U.S., even among those who had never used cigarettes. . Nicotine and other particulates of e-cigarettes have been linked to adverse health outcomes, such as increased heart rate, cough and wheeze, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, addiction, and attention deficiency.
The potential substance that links e-cigarette and sleep health is nicotine (Brett et al., 2020). Nicotine, as a stimulant, can suppress rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which may contribute to a variety of sleep problems such as sleep deprivation. The nicotine in the inhaled e-cigarette aerosols may have negative effects on sleep architecture and disturb the neurotransmitters that regulate the sleep cycle.
Many studies have found an association between combustible cigarette smoking and poor sleep. A systematic review in 2019 on adolescent substance use and sleep found few and inconsistent studies addressing the association between e-cigarette use and sleep deprivation and concluded that this association is a concern that requires more research.
This is an important question given the rapid increase in e-cigarette use among young adults in recent years.
To bridge this gap, a study was undertaken to determine whether e-cigarette use is associated with sleep deprivation in a sample of young (18–24 years-old) American adults.
Researchers used pooled cross-sectional data from the 2017 and 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), selecting respondents aged 18 to 24 from forty-one states and U.S. territories that included the e-cigarette and sleep modules in the interview (N = 19,701).
Poisson regression models tested the relationship between e-cigarette use and sleep deprivation.
The team adjusted for sociodemographic variables, physical activity, mental health, BMI, smokeless tobacco products use, alcohol drinking, and smoking. The main outcome of interest was sleep deprivation.
On analysis, the following facts were revealed.
In the pooled dataset, the weighted prevalence of current or former e-cigarette use was 47%, and 35% of participants self-reported sleep deprivation.
After adjusting for confounders, former e-cigarette users were 1.17 times more likely to report sleep deprivation, compared to never users (95%CI: 1.06, 1.29).
The prevalence ratio for self-reported sleep deprivation increased to 1.42 (95%CI: 1.23, 1.65) for everyday users, compared to never e-cigarette user

The research team highlighted some facts.
Electronic cigarette use might be related to sleep deprivation in young adults.
Former users were more likely to report sleep deprivation compared to non-users.
The association became stronger when comparing current users with nonusers.
The association remained even after adjusting for confounders, e.g. alcohol use
For the full article click on the link: DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106646.
Primary source: Addictive Behaviors