YouVape is an online survey that aims to understand the health effects of vaping based on information provided by the public.

Project Overview

YouVape users complete a short online survey related to their health and vaping history. The anonymous information provided helps researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital better understand lung injury associated with vaping.

YouVape was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital in response to the YouVape team’s research on vaping-related illnesses published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Healthcare Context

Vaping has been marketed as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes, leading to an increase in the popularity and use of e-cigarettes. However, there has been a surge in confirmed and suspected cases of severe pulmonary disease in the United States that has been associated with the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) or vaping. The first eight suspected cases appeared in Wisconsin in late July 2019, detected by HealthMap.1 By October 2019 there were a total of 1,604 confirmed and suspected cases in the U.S. and 34 fatalities.2

The pathologic cause of the pulmonary disease cases is still unknown which is why YouVape is a necessary source of information for researchers to leverage.

News

Interested in learning more about YouVape?

Visit YouVape’s website here or send IDHA an email at accelerator@childrens.harvard.edu

References

  1. Hswen, Y., & Brownstein, J. S. (2019). Real-Time Digital Surveillance of Vaping-Induced Pulmonary Disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(18), 1778–1780. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc1912818
  2. Abbott, B. (n.d.). Vaping-Related Illnesses Rise to 1,604, CDC Says – WSJ. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/vaping-related-illnesses-rise-to-1-604-cdc-says-11571940462?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1