Introduction
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are often promoted to assist with cigarette smoking
cessation. In 2016–2017, the relationship between e-cigarette use and having stopped
smoking among ever (current and former) smokers was assessed in the European Union
and Great Britain by itself.
Methods
Cross-sectional logistic regression of the association between being a former smoker
and e-cigarette use was applied to the 2014 Eurobarometer survey of 28 European Union
countries controlling for demographics.
Results
Among all ever smokers, any regular ever use of nicotine e-cigarettes was associated
with lower odds of being a former smoker (unadjusted OR=0.34, 95% CI=0.26, 0.43, AOR=0.43,
95% CI=0.32, 0.58) compared with smokers who had never used e-cigarettes. In unadjusted
models, daily use (OR=0.42, 95% CI=0.31, 0.56); occasional use (OR=0.25, 95% CI=0.18,
0.35); and experimentation (OR=0.24, 95% CI=0.19, 0.30) of nicotine e-cigarettes were
associated with lower odds of being a former smoker compared with having never used
nicotine-containing e-cigarettes. Comparable results were found in adjusted models.
Results were similar in Great Britain alone. Among current smokers, daily cigarette
consumption was 15.6 cigarettes/day (95% CI=14.5, 16.7) among those who also used
e-cigarettes versus 14.4 cigarettes/day (95% CI=13.4, 15.4) for those who did not
use them (p<0.05).
Conclusions
These results suggest that e-cigarettes are associated with inhibiting rather than
assisting in smoking cessation. On the population level, the net effect of the entry
of e-cigarettes into the European Union (and Great Britain) is associated with depressed
smoking cessation of conventional cigarettes.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: February 12, 2018
This activity is available for CME credit. See page A4 for information.Identification
Copyright
© 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
