US Study: E-cigarettes most effective smoking cessation aids

A recent study published in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, looked at government data from 2013 and 2014, and found that e-cigarettes were one of the most commonly used cessation tools by American smokers, and the most successful.

Diane Caruana

December 16, 2017

Lead study author, Brad Rodu, a Professor of Medicine and endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research, and member of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at at the University of Louisville, and his colleague Nantaporn Plurphanswat, analyzed data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Survey, which is a combined project between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

E-cigs produced the best results with 540,000 managing to quit successfully, while NRT and prescription drugs combined, helped about 354,000.

The PATH survey asked current smokers which cessation tools they had used in order to try quitting, and also asked former smokers which aids had led them to quit successfully. The study participants had the following options to choose from:: (1) no aid, (2) support from friends and family, (3) other aids (counseling, quitline, books, pamphlets, videos, clinic, class, web program), (4) e-cigarettes, (5) other combustible tobacco (cigars, cigarillos, filtered cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah), (6) smokeless tobacco (dip, chew, or snuff, and dissolvable tobacco), (7) pharmaceutical nicotine (NRT: patch, gum, inhaler, nasal spray, lozenge or pill), and (8) prescription drugs (Chantix, varenicline, Wellbutrin, Zyban, or bupropion).

“Use of e-cigarettes was the only method with higher odds of users being a former smoker than unaided attempts (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.12–1.81). Current use of e-cigarettes among current (34%) and former (54%) smokers was significantly higher than current use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT),” read the study results.

The study found that e-cigarettes were used by 2.2 million smokers, NRTs by 1.47 million, prescription drugs by 418,000 and smokeless tobacco by 124,000. Additionally, besides being the most commonly used, e-cigarettes produced the best results with 540,000 managing to quit successfully, while NRT and prescription drugs combined, helped about 354,000.

Smokers find it easier to quit by switching to vaping

In line with other studies before it, this research clearly indicates that e-cigarettes are the most preferred smoking cessation tools by smokers. Many have attributed this to the fact that the action of vaping mimics that of smoking, hence it makes the transition from smoking to not smoking a smoother one for addicts. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the devices are the most effective smoking cessation tools to date.

Read Further: Tobacco Truth