Electronic cigarette use and tobacco cessation in a state-based quitline

Abstract

IntroductionEvidence is mixed on e-cigarette's effectiveness as a tobacco cessation aid. Research suggests that e-cigarette users face greater barriers to quitting tobacco.AimTo examine the association between e-cigarette use and tobacco cessation outcomes among quitline callers.MethodsWe examined 2,204 callers who enrolled and completed 7-month follow-up surveys between April 2014 and January 2017. We examined the association between any e-cigarette use and tobacco cessation. We also evaluated these relationships by e-cigarette use patterns between enrollment and 7-month follow-up: sustained, adopted, discontinued, and non-use. We used multivariable logistic regression to control for caller characteristics, tobacco history, and program utilization.ResultsOverall, 18% of callers reported using e-cigarettes at enrollment, follow-up, or both. Compared to non-users, e-cigarette users were more likely to be younger, non-Hispanic, and report a mental health condition. The adjusted odds of tobacco cessation were not statistically different for callers who used e-cigarettes compared to those who did not (adjusted odds ratios = 1.02, 95% confidence interval 0.79–1.32). Results were similar when examining cessation by patterns of e-cigarette use.ConclusionsE-cigarette use was not associated with tobacco cessation. This suggests that e-cigarette use may neither facilitate nor deter tobacco cessation among quitline callers. Future research should continue exploring how e-cigarette use affects quitting.

Changing patterns in E-cigarette use among Minnesota adults between 2014 and 2018

“…More qualitative information is needed in order to understand the role that flavors may play in supporting quitting (Camenga et al, 2017). While e-cigarettes are not a federally approved cessation method in the US, a limited number of studies suggest that the use of e-cigarettes could help smokers quit conventional cigarettes (Hajek et al, 2019, Subialka Nowariak et al, 2018), while other studies report mixed results on e-cigarettes’ potential to support quitting (Brandon et al, 2019, Brady et al, 2019, Giovenco and Delnevo, 2018). The use of flavored e-cigarettes appears to be associated with smokers’ intention to quit (Camenga et al, 2017, Chen, 2018), and our study further demonstrates that smoking status is also associated with flavor use among past 30 day e-cigarette users.…”