E-cigarettes ‘are NO more effective at helping smokers quit than going cold turkey’

E-cigarettes are no more effective at helping smokers quit than going cold turkey, a study suggests. 

Just 10 per cent of smokers who relied on vapes to ditch their habit were successful in quitting for 12 months.

For comparison, the figure stood at around a fifth for smokers who shunned nicotine gums, patches or tablets and gave up without any extra help. 

The findings, by US researchers, cast doubt on the wisdom that e-cigarettes are one of the best ways to help smokers quit. 

Currently, the NHS advises that vaping can help smokers – though it is not available on prescription.

But England is set to become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to help smokers quit, if Government plans are given the go ahead.   

University of California researchers used survey data from 3,000 smokers who had recently attempted to quit the habit, and over 1,000 recent former smokers. 

A US study suggests those wanting to quit smoking may want to shy away from e-cigarettes after finding those who used the devices 

The surveys — used for the study published in the journal Tobacco Control — were conducted between 2017 and 2019.

In their research, a successful quit attempt was defined as abstaining from tobacco products like cigarettes for 12 months or more. 

Participants were asked what kind of product they were using to try to snuff out their habit.

The researchers looked at people trying to quit smoking cigarettes and those trying quit all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.  

If they were using e-cigarettes, they were quizzed what nicotine strength product they used between 0-4 per cent or higher. 

They were also asked about their level of tobacco dependency, such as how often they smoked, and how long they had been a smoker. 

Most of the smokers trying to quit (64 per cent) had attempted going cold turkey, which the NHS recommends against.   

The others either used e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) which can be prescribed to people trying to quit smoking in Britain.   

By 2019, only 10 per cent of those who attempted to use e-cigarettes to quit in 2017 were successful.

This was compared to 19 per cent of those who used no products at all.

Scientists also calculated e-cigarettes were associated with seven fewer successful attempts per 100 would-be quitters, than other pharmaceutical aids. 

Additionally, nearly 60 per of recent ex-smokers who vaped daily resumed traditional smoking by 2019. 

Dr John Pierce, study author, said: ‘This analysis didn’t show a cessation benefit from using e-cigarettes either to help or as a substitute for cigarette smoking.’ 

However, he added that a further study is required to measure the impact on higher strength nicotine vapes, which have become more common since 2019, on smoking cessation rates. 

But some British experts have criticised the study. Professor John Britton, from the University of Nottingham, said its conclusions were incorrect by looking at people who failed to quit smoking in the past.  

‘The findings…are fundamentally flawed by confounding by severity, whereby the heaviest (most addicted) smokers, having tried and failed to quit using NRT or other treatments in the past, or who have declined to try to quit in the past, then try e-cigarettes,’ he said.

He said this why the findings conflict with other studies that show e-cigarettes are effective quitting aids.      

The study was only observational, meaning it could not establish why people trying to quite smoking using e-cigarettes were less successful. 

But the findings cast some doubt on UK Government plans to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS to smokers trying quit.   

Regulators have published updated guidance that paves the way for medicinally licensed e-cigarette products to be prescribed for tobacco smokers who want to stop smoking and switch to vaping instead.

The move could see England become the first country in the world to prescribe medicinally licensed e-cigarettes, currently used by about 3.6million adults. 

The controversial move comes despite the World Health Organization saying last year that the devices are ‘undoubtedly harmful’. 

While vaping is generally considered healthier than traditional smoking a plethora of studies have linked the habit to a number of health issues, from respiratory problems to erectile disfunction.  

NHS bosses say the gadgets — which can cost between £20 and £30 — are ‘far less harmful’ than traditional cigarettes.