E-Cigarettes Help Smokers Quit Without Specialist Support
A study from Queen Mary University of London indicates that e-cigarettes are effective tools for smoking cessation even without professional behavioral support. The trial found that participants using e-cigarettes were significantly more likely to quit than those receiving only automated messaging.
Why it matters
This research provides evidence that e-cigarettes can be a viable public health intervention for smokers who lack access to or interest in traditional counseling services.
A new study by Queen Mary University of London, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has found that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking even without ongoing behavioural support.
The randomised controlled trial, published in NEJM Evidence and involving 1,170 adults given e-cigarettes, found that 11.3 per cent of participants given e-cigarettes alone successfully quit smoking for six months, compared with 6.4 per cent of those who received automated NHS stop-smoking messages - making them 76 per cent more likely to quit.
Adding telephone-based behavioural support nearly doubled quit rates. Among participants receiving e-cigarettes alongside counselling, 21.1 per cent successfully stopped smoking for six months, compared with 11.3 per cent receiving e-cigarettes alone.
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