A new study published on Tuesday 10 March, No Smoking Day, from King’s College London highlights the ‘clear benefit’ of using e-cigarettes every day to stop smoking, and support to their effectiveness compared to other methods of stopping it, including nicotine substitution. or medication.
Although the number of smokers in England has been falling in recent years, tobacco smoking remains a leading cause of premature death and disease – killing nearly 75,000 people England in 2019.
Although e-cigarettes have been around for more than a decade, evidence on their effectiveness in helping people to stop smoking is still limited. Recent studies have produced inconsistent results or failed to quantify important factors such as frequency of use or the impact of different types of e-cigarettes on cessation efforts.
In their study funded by Cancer Research UK, the researchers analyzed data from an online survey of more than 1,155 people, which included smokers, post-smokers who had stopped within a year before completing the survey, and e-cigarette users.
Five tons of data were collected between 2012 and 2017. The researchers analyzed the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in supporting smoking for at least one month at follow-up, and at least one month of pause between the first study and subsequent wave up.
Published today in the magazine Addiction, the study found that people who used renewable e-cigarettes every day to stop smoking were more than five times more likely to abstain from tobacco smoking for one month, compared to those who did not use help stop at all.
Similarly, people who used fragile e-cigarettes or cartels were three times more likely to quit for one month, compared to those who did not use any help.
Daily use of e-cigarettes was also more effective for bypassing other evidence-based methods – including nicotine replacement therapy, medications such as bupropion or varenicline, or any combination of the aids. sin. None of these methods were associated with smoking cessation at follow-up, as opposed to being unassisted at all. However, in a secondary study, drug therapy was associated with achieving at least a month of smoking.
Dr Martin McDermott, Researcher at King’s College London National Addiction Center and lead author of the study, said: “Our results show that, when used every day, e-cigarettes help people to stop to smoke, as opposed to no help at all. according to previous research, showing that e-cigarettes are a more effective help for cessation than nicotine replacement therapy and prescription medications.
“It is important that we regularly measure how often people use e-cigarettes, as we have found that follow-up – particularly of renewable types – has not been more sporadic in use. -bound to abstinence. “
Dr Leonie Brose, Reader at King’s College London National Addiction Center, said: “Despite the cautious stance of the World Health Organization (WHO) on e-cigarettes, studies like ours show that they remain one. of the most effective cessation supports available.
“The WHO is particularly concerned about renewable e-cigarettes, as these may allow the user to add harmful substances or higher levels of nicotine. However, we have shown that re-cigarettes innovative in particular are a very effective cessation of daily use, and this evidence should be incorporated into any future guidelines for their use. “
Source:
Magazine Reference:
McDermott, MS, et al. (2021) Effectiveness of e-cigarette use for smoking cessation compared with other cessation methods among adults in the United Kingdom. Addiction. doi.org/10.1111/add.15474.