Cigarette smoking cessation has been described as the world’s most important public health intervention.
Electronic cigarettes are a relatively new tool for assisting smoking cessation but there is a lack of data on their efficacy.
This article reports on a pharmacy supported e-cigarette smoking cessation intervention undertaken in a metropolitan area in the north of England.
Methods
Longitudinal mixed-methods evaluation incorporating analysis of secondary data, interviews with service users, and interviews with service providers at 3-month and 12-month follow-up, with an additional text message survey of service users at 12-month follow-up.
Results
The four-week follow-up data suggest that for every twenty people given an e-cigarette, six quit smoking tobacco and three people cut their cigarette intake by more than five cigarettes per day. Long-term follow-up results were positive but only a small number of participants were still engaged with the study at 12 months. Service users and providers spoke positively about the combination of e-cigarettes and pharmacy support.
Conclusions
E-cigarette distribution combined with pharmacy support appears to be an agreeable and effective intervention for smoking cessation, but further data are needed on long-term quit rates and health effects.
Alan D. Price et al. – BMC Public Health – 2022-07-12
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