IMPACT OF E-CIGARETTE USAGE ON COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE LEVEL AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Abstract

The electronic cigarette, or “e-cigarette”, is a device with a cartridge containing liquid nicotine and other ingredients that creates inhalable smoke.  Malaysia is considered to be one of the world’s major markets for e-cigarettes since it has the greatest reported proportion of teenage consumers.  E-cigarettes can cause multiple pulmonary complications or direct injury as a result of the device explosion.  Little is known about its effects on cognitive performance and its potential hazard to the brain.  It is crucial to look at any potential impacts on cognitive function because Malaysia’s young population differs from those of other countries in terms of different sociodemographic background and e-cigarette use.  The cognitive performance of e-cigarette users and non-users among Malaysian university students are compared in this case-control study.  We recruited 70 non-e-cigarette users and an equal number of e-cigarette users among university students in Malaysia and performed a face-to-face cognitive evaluation using WHO Auditory Verbal Learning Test (WHO-AVLT), Trail Making Test (TMT) and Digit Span Test (DST) for both groups.  Using a self-reported questionnaire, we looked into the relationships between e-cigarette awareness, attitude and behavior.  DST demonstrated a significant difference with a p-value of 0.05, with e-cigarette users outperforming non-users with 21.75 and 20.17 points respectively.  According to WHO-AVLT and TMT, there are no significant differences between e-cigarette users and non-users.  E-cigarette users’ attitude and lower level of awareness can help explain their behavior. This study provides preliminary evidence of a lack of e-cigarette effect on cognitive function among the local university student population.   The finding may serve as a baseline for a more robust study in the future.