Despite the many ways to quit smoking, most smokers fail to succeed. A group of scientists from Queen Mary University of London have studied the effectiveness of vaping compared to other nicotine substitutes. Their results were published on June 29, 2021 and they are revealing. Happy reading !

The setting

The study followed a total of 135 smokers, 40 years old in average and 51% male. All had failed to quit smoking before. More than 80% of them had not succeeded in quitting smoking even with drug treatments and resumed smoking within a year.

Participants received either a nicotine replacement product of their choice or an electronic cigarette starter pack in a flavour of their choice. These products also came with a minimal behavioural support.

The choice of nicotine replacement products included patch, chewing gum, sublingual tablet, nasal spray, inhaler, and mouth spray. The electronic cigarettes offered were Innokin’s Endura T18 Kit and TECC’s Arc Mini Kit. The participants were all invited to go shopping in the appropriate shops.

The results of the study were obtained after 6 months. The primary endpoint was a (biochemically validated) reduction in smoking by at least 50% and the secondary endpoint was validated abstinence at 6 months.

The results

After 6 months, only 6% of the participants who received traditional nicotine substitutes were able to reduce their carbon monoxide level of at least 50%. In the group using an e-cigarette, this rate increased to 26.5%. The scientists were therefore able to conclude that with smokers, unable to quit using conventional methods, electronic cigarettes were 4x more effective to help smoking reduction and long-term smoking cessation.

Among the success factors that the scientists identified with the participants was that "the electronic cigarette seems to require less effort". It was also found that smokers were more likely to stick with using an e-cigarette than with a substitute. That's the beauty of an e-cigarette, it's possible to stop smoking and still enjoy yourself.

This study once again confirms the results of many others that the most effective smoking cessation tool is indeed vaping.

As vape professionals, and with our experience, we won’t put ourselves out too much by saying that if these new vapers had also benefited from personalized advice, the results would have been even better. Indeed, as each smoker has a different profile, each vaper is different. The secret of success is to have the right device and liquid, but above all the right nicotine level.

Conclusion

In smokers unable to quit using conventional methods, electronic cigarettes are 4x more effective than other nicotine substitutes in achieving long-term smoking reduction.

The whole study here : https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15628

Study’s authors : Katie Myers Smith, Anna Phillips Waller, Francesca Pesola, Hayden McRobbie, Dunja Przulj, Marzena Orzol, Peter Hajek.

Study funded by a project grant from the Tobacco Advisory Group, Cancer Research UK (A20503).