Study Suggests that Telling Smokers the Truth About Electronic Cigarettes Could Enhance Smoking Cessation

Last week, I discussed a study, just published online ahead of print in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, which reports the results of a population-based survey of smokers followed up after two years to determine whether e-cigarette use was associated with higher or lower rates of smoking cessation. The study found that intensive electronic cigarettes users at baseline were six times more likely to quit smoking after a two-year follow-up period compared to intermittent or non-users.One additional important finding of this study deserves mention.The study found a difference in the reasons for starting e-cigarette use between triers (those who only vaped one or two times), intermittent users, and intensive users (those who vaped daily for at least one month).Among the intensive users, the overwhelming majority (87.6%) reported that they were vaping because of health concerns: they were concerned about their own health and/or wanted to quit smoking or cut down on the amount that they smoked.Among the intermittent users, this percentage was only 53.6%, and among the triers, it was only 55.2%. Other major reasons given among the triers and intermittent users were vaping where smoking is not allowed and avoiding exposing others to tobacco smoke. Overall, then, the most intensive users -- who were also more likely to quit successfully -- tended to be smokers who were using electronic cigarettes specifically with a health purpose in mind (usually, quitting smok...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs