Association of tobacco product use with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence and incidence in Waves 1 through 5 (2013–2019) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study

BACKGROUND: We examined the association of non-cigarette tobacco use on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. METHODS: There were 13,752 participants ≥ 40 years with Wave 1 (W1) data for prevalence analyses, including 6945 adults without COPD for incidence analyses; W1–5 (2013–2019) data were analyzed. W1 tobacco use was modeled as 12 mutually-exclusive categories of past 30-day (P30D) single and polyuse, with two reference categories (current exclusive cigarette and never tobacco). Prevalence and incidence ratios of self-reported physician-diagnosed COPD were estimated using weighted multivariable Poisson regression. RESULTS: W1 mean (SE) age was 58.1(0.1) years; mean cigarette pack-years was similar for all categories involving cigarettes and exclusive use of e-cigarettes (all > 20), greater than exclusive cigar users (< 10); and COPD prevalence was 7.7%. Compared to P30D cigarette use, never tobacco, former tobacco, and cigar use were associated with lower COPD prevalence (RR = 0.33, (95% confidence interval—CI) [0.26, 0.42]; RR = 0.57, CI [0.47, 0.70]; RR = 0.46, CI [0.28, 0.76], respectively); compared to never tobacco use, all categories except cigar and smokeless tobacco use were associated with higher COPD prevalence (RR former = 1.72, CI [1.33, 2.23]; RR cigarette = 3.00, CI [2.37, 3.80]; RR e-cigarette = 2.22, CI [1.44, 3.42]; RR cigarette + e-cigarette = 3.10, CI [2.39, 4.02]; RR polycombusted = 3.37, CI [2.44, 4.65]; RR polycombusted plus noncombusted = 2.75, CI]1.99, 3.81]). COPD incidence from W2-5 was 5.8%. Never and former tobacco users had lower COPD risk compared to current cigarette smokers (RR = 0.52, CI [0.35, 0.77]; RR = 0.47, CI [0.32, 0.70], respectively). Compared to never use, cigarette, smokeless, cigarette plus e-cigarette, and polycombusted tobacco use were associated with higher COPD incidence (RR = 1.92, CI [1.29, 2.86]; RR = 2.08, CI [1.07, 4.03]; RR = 1.99, CI [1.29, 3.07]; RR = 2.59, CI [1.60, 4.21], respectively); exclusive use of e-cigarettes was not (RR = 1.36, CI [0.55, 3.39]). CONCLUSIONS: E-cigarettes and all use categories involving cigarettes were associated with higher COPD prevalence compared to never use, reflecting, in part, the high burden of cigarette exposure in these groups. Cigarette—but not exclusive e-cigarette—use was also strongly associated with higher COPD incidence. Compared to cigarette use, only quitting tobacco was protective against COPD development. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12931-022-02197-1.