A new large-scale study was conducted by a team of researchers at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. It studied the behavior associated with vaping. In particular, such as consumption, use and smoking cessation among adult smokers.
The study "The impact of uncontrolled provision of e-cigarettes on consumption, use and smoking cessation among adult smokers in the USA: a naturalistic, randomized, controlled clinical trial" consisted of a clinical study of adult smokers recruited from 11 US cities. 638 participants had different intentions regarding stopping and/or continuing smoking. However, everyone had very little, if any, vaping experience.
The participants were divided into two groups. Half were given flavored vapes, and the other half were not. The instructions given to the e-cigarette group were extremely minimal. As the researchers sought to observe the natural perception and use of vapes and their impact on smoking cessation.
In the vape group, about 70% of the participants started using the issued electronic cigarettes. Almost all behavioral outcomes were in favor of this group, including smoking cessation attempts and sustained abstinence from traditional cigarettes. This led to the conclusion that vaping even without guidance can lead to quitting smoking. Consequently, as the researchers reported, for smokers who have failed to quit using traditional approaches, vaping should be considered as a viable alternative.
"It rarely happens that you were right in almost everything that you predicted. Here it was one effect after another. Regardless of how we looked at it, those who received an e–cigarette showed greater abstinence and less harm compared to those who did not receive it," said study lead author Matthew Carpenter, PhD, co-director of the cancer research program at Hollings.
More and more patients are asking their doctors about vaping
Fortunately, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open, more and more smokers in the United States are asking their general practitioners about vaping products. And this leads to the fact that more and more doctors recommend them. A study titled "Interaction between American Doctors and Patients regarding the use of electronic cigarettes" showed that although most doctors are still misinformed about the relative benefits of vaping products, patients themselves encourage and pressure doctors to prescribe them.
In the period from 2018 to 2019, more than 2,000 doctors participated in the study. Unfortunately, 60% of them mistakenly believed that vaping products are just as harmful as combustible tobacco products. However, doctors who believed in the concept of harm reduction, had difficulty quitting smoking themselves, and/or whom patients asked about vaping were more likely to recommend these products.
Quitting smoking with the help of vapes
Meanwhile, in the UK, one in five smokers is believed to have quit smoking thanks to vaping. In particular, 4.3 million Britons are currently vapers. This corresponds to the proportion of 8.3% of the adult population of England, Wales and Scotland. This is stated in the report of the organization "Actions to combat smoking and Health" (ASH), in which the growing popularity of vaping is called a "revolution".
This number of vapers has grown from 1.7% (about 800,000 people), which was 10 years ago. The report also highlights that about 2.4 million British vapers are former smokers. Another 1.5 million still smoke cigarettes, and 350,000 have never smoked before.
According to numerous studies showing the effectiveness of vaping products as smoking cessation tools, many participants stated that vaping helped them quit smoking. Most vapers reported using open systems.
Concerns about one-size-fits-all
The report also highlights the sudden increase in the use of disposable e-cigarettes, which rose from 2.3% last year to a significant 15%. Similarly, the annual YouGov youth survey for ASH, conducted in March and published on July 7, recently showed an increase in teen vaping and experiments with disposable e-cigarettes.
According to the survey results, vaping among British children aged 11-17 has now increased from 4% in 2020 to 7% in 2022. While the percentage of teens who reported having ever tried vaping increased from 14% in 2020 to 16% in 2022. Disposable vapes were the most commonly used types of devices. Moreover, their share increased from 7% in 2020 and 8% in 2021 to 52% in 2022. The most popular brands were Elf Bar and Geek Bar. Only 30% reported having tried other brands.
Source: