‘Strong evidence’ that e-cigarettes most effective way to quit smoking

There is strong evidence that e-cigarettes are a more effective way to help people quit smoking than nicotine patches or gum, a Cochrane review has concluded.

The analysis of 78 studies with more than 22,000 participants also found that nicotine e-cigarettes led to higher quit rates than e-cigarettes without nicotine, or no stop smoking intervention at although there was less data on this.

It means that for every six in 100 people who quit by using nicotine replacement therapy, eight to twelve would quit by using nicotine-containing vapes, the researchers, said.

Compared with behavioural support only or no support, quit rates were more than double with e-cigarettes, the team said.

In studies comparing nicotine e-cigarettes to nicotine replacement treatment, significant side effects were rare, the team said.

In the short-to-medium term the most common side effects were throat or mouth irritation, headache, cough, and feeling nauseous but the effects appeared to diminish over time, the research showed.

Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, associate professor at Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, said: ‘Electronic cigarettes have generated a lot of misunderstanding in both the public health community and the popular press since their introduction over a decade ago.’

That had led some people to avoid using e-cigarettes as a way to stop smoking but more evidence was now available.

‘For the first time, this has given us high-certainty evidence that e-cigarettes are even more effective at helping people to quit smoking than traditional nicotine replacement therapies, like patches or gums.’

Figures published in September show that more children aged 11-15 are now vaping and using e-cigarettes than in previous years.

Dr Nicola Lindson, a co-author from Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, added: ‘E-cigarettes are not risk free, and shouldn’t be used by people who don’t smoke or aren’t at risk of smoking.

‘However, evidence shows that nicotine e-cigarettes carry only a small fraction of the risk of smoking.’

But more evidence on the effects of newer e-cigarettes with better nicotine delivery is needed to help more people quit smoking, they said and longer-term data was also needed.

Professor Nicholas Hopkinson, professor of respiratory medicine and honorary consultant physician at the National Heart and Lung Institute, said: ‘There are still more than six million people in the UK who smoke, and these findings strongly support making e-cigarettes available as one of the options to help them to quit.

‘Smoking cessation services can continue to be confident supporting smokers to switch to e-cigarettes.’

But he added that smoking cessation services were ‘woefully underfunded’ and a levy on tobacco industry profits would bring in around £700m to the Department of Health to fund these and other public health measures.