Vaping is not smoking and recording vaping status is not a requirement of the Better Help for Smokers to Quit health target. However, vaping is a health risk and it is appropriate to record in clinical records.
Recording vaping is additional to recording smoking status. Patients who have stopped smoking and are currently vaping exclusively can be coded as ex-smoking. Recording a person as ex-vaping has value, especially if the person is using vaping to quit smoking and will then quit vaping.
The following SNOMED CT terms and codes should be used to record vaping status. SNOMED CT is our standard for clinical terminology and replaces the Read codes used previously. There are no Read codes for vaping.
| SNOMED CT term | SNOMED CT code |
|---|---|
| Currently vaping with nicotine | 785889008 |
| Currently vaping without nicotine | 786063001 |
| Currently vaping | 722499006 |
| Ex-vaping for less than 1 year | 1137688001 |
| Ex-vaping for more than 1 year | 1137692008 |
| Trying to give up vaping | 1137691001 |
| Never vaped | 1137690000 |
These SNOMED CT terms and codes are available in the SNOMED CT NZ Edition and our SNOMED CT terminology service.
Options to record vaping status where a suitable SNOMED CT code is not available include annotating a smoking status classification with vaping information, using a screening or health measurement code, or annotating on the patient reminder system if included as an option.