Studies in this month’s issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research demonstrate the significant role that electronic nicotine delivery systems may have to play in future tobacco control efforts, but that they remain only part of the solution in reducing the health and economic burden of combustible tobacco use.
Grabovac et al. present the findings of a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation and find that nicotine e-cigarettes may be an effective smoking cesstion aid but that the evidence is not conclusive. A key consideration when considering the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation is the extent to which the findings from randomized controlled trials are replicated in real-world conditions. Glasser et al. present an analysis of the US Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health cohort, which finds that the consistency and frequency of e-cigarette use are important in determining effectiveness for smoking cessation: more consistent and frequent vapers were more likely to quit, as were those who were using flavors and those using rechargeble devices.2 These findings emphasize the importance of defining different patterns of e-cigarette use in studies which assess the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, and the need for vapers to find a product which suits them to maximize their chances of quitting.
A key factor in determining whether vapers are successful in finding a product that meets their needs may be the nature of information provided to customers by e-cigarette retailers. Galimov et al. report the findings of a study of vape shops in ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the Greater Los Angeles area of Southern California, which aimed to investigate whether vape shop staff offer advice on quitting smoking and employees’ level of awareness of vaping research.3 They found that although the majority of employees offered smoking cessation advice, nearly half reported having no vaping-related research knowledge. The authors conclude that providing training in evidence-based smoking cessation strategies and evidence-based educational materials about vaping might help to ensure that employees give vape shop customers accurate advice.
Nicotine & Tobacco Research – Tessa Langley – 2021-04-01.
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