October 17, 2019

expert reaction to study linking e-cigarettes to successful attempts to quitting smoking

Research, published in the journal Addiction, reports that E-cigarettes may help more than 50,000 smokers to stop smoking in England each year.

Prof Peter Hajek, Director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said:

“This new study provides an estimate of the population impact of e-cigarettes on quitting rates.  This represents an important addition to evidence that already exists from multiple sources showing that e-cigarettes are helping smokers quit.

“The study shows that with the increase in e-cigarette popularity, success rates of quit attempts and overall quit rates among smokers have increased, most likely because those unable to quit with other approaches are now benefiting from vaping.  

“The study also found that cigarette consumption in remaining smokers did not change. This is also encouraging.  If e-cigarettes were only helping light smokers, the proportion of heavy smokers among the smoking population would increase and average cigarette consumption would appear to be going up.  As the transition from smoking to vaping continues, the benefits to public health are likely to be substantial.”

‘Association of prevalence of electronic cigarette use with smoking cessation and cigarette consumption in England: a time series analysis’ by Emma Beard et al. was published in Addiction at 5am UK time on Thursday 17 October 2019.

DOI: 10.1111/add.14851

Declared interests

None to declare