Researchers estimate 50,000+ smokers in U.K. used e-cigs as part of successful quit attempt in 2017
FRIDAY, Oct. 18, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Electronic cigarette use in England is positively associated with overall cigarette quit rates and quit success rates, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in Addiction.
Emma Beard, Ph.D., from University College London, and colleagues estimated how changes in the prevalence of e-cigarette use have been associated with changes in smoking cessation activities and daily cigarette consumption among smokers in England using data from the Smoking Toolkit Study (50,498 participants).
The researchers found that overall quit rates increased by 0.054 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.032 to 0.076; P < 0.001) and 0.050 percent (95 percent CI, 0.032 to 0.076; P < 0.001), respectively, for every 1 percent increase in the prevalence of e-cigarette use by smokers and e-cigarette use during a quit attempt. For every 1 percent increase in the prevalence of e-cigarette use during a quit attempt, quit success rates increased by 0.060 percent (95 percent CI, 0.043 to 0.078; P < 0.001). There was no association between e-cigarette use and either prevalence of quit attempt (β = 0.011; 95 percent CI, −0.046 to 0.069; P = 0.698) or cigarette consumption (β = 0.019; 95 percent CI, −0.043 to 0.082; P = 0.542).
"This study builds on population surveys and clinical trials that find e-cigarettes can help smokers to stop," Beard said in a statement. "England seems to have found a sensible balance between regulation and promotion of e-cigarettes. Marketing is tightly controlled so we are seeing very little use of e-cigarettes by never-smokers of any age, while millions of smokers are using them to try to stop smoking or to cut down the amount they smoke."
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