E-cigarettes may not help quit smoking

The use of electronic cigarettes by smokers is not associated with greater rates of quitting or reduced cigarette consumption after a year, a new study has claimed.

Research author Rachel A Grana and colleagues from the University California, San Francisco noted that e-cigarettes are promoted as smoking cessation tools, but studies of their effectiveness have been unconvincing.

The authors analysed self-reported data from 949 smokers to determine if e-cigarettes were associated with more successful quitting or reduced cigarette consumption.

Researchers noted that more women, younger adults and people with less education used e-cigarettes.

E-cigarette use at baseline was not associated with quitting one year later or with a change in cigarette consumption, researchers found.
 

The authors acknowledge the low numbers of e-cigarette users in the study may have limited their ability to detect an association between e-cigarettes use and quitting.

"Nonetheless, our data add to the current evidence that e-cigarettes may not increase rates of smoking cessation," researchers said.

"Regulations should prohibit advertising claiming or suggesting that e-cigarettes are effective smoking cessation devices until claims are supported by scientific evidence," they said.