A new study conducted by a team of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researchers, looked into vape-associated behaviours such as uptake, use, and smoking cessation among adult smokers.
The study “Effect of unguided e-cigarette provision on uptake, use, and smoking cessation among adults who smoke in the USA: a naturalistic, randomised, controlled clinical trial” consisted of a clinical trial of adult smokers recruited from 11 cities across the US. The 638 participants had different intentions with regards to smoking cessation and/or continuation, yet all had very little history of vaping, if any at all.
Split into two groups, half of the participants were given a flavoured vape and the other half was not. The instructions given to the vape group were very minimal, as the researchers aimed to observe the naturalistic uptake and use of vapes and their effects on smoking cessation.
In the vape group, about 70% of the participants started using the given vape. Almost all behavioral outcomes favoured this group, including smoking cessation attempts and sustained abstinence from cigarettes. This led to the conclusion that unguided vaping could lead to quitting smoking. Hence, reported the researchers, for smokers who fail to stop smoking via traditional approaches, vaping should be considered as a viable alternative.
“It’s rarely the case that you’re proven correct for almost everything that you predicted,” said lead study author Matthew Carpenter, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Control Research Program at Hollings. “Here, it was one effect after another: No matter how we looked at it, those who got the e-cigarette product demonstrated greater abstinence and reduced harm as compared to those who didn’t get it.”
More patients are asking their GPs about vapes
Luckily, reported a study published in JAMA Network Open, more and more US smokers are asking their GPs about vaping products, leading more doctors to recommend them. The study titled, “Communication Between US Physicians and Patients Regarding Electronic Cigarette Use,” found that even though the majority of doctors remain misinformed about the relative benefits of vaping products, many are being encouraged and pressured by patients to prescribe them.
The study surveyed over 2,000 physicians between 2018 and 2019. Sadly, 60% wrongly believed that vaping products are as harmful as combustible tobacco products. However, doctors who believed in the concept of harm reduction, had experienced their own smoking cessation struggles, and/or had been asked about vaping by their patients, were more likely to recommend the products.
Quitting smoking via vapes
Meanwhile in the UK, one in five smokers are believed to have quit smoking thanks to vapes. More specifically, a total of 4.3million Brits are current vapers, equating to 8.3% of adults in England, Wales and Scotland. This was revealed through a report by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), which referred to this increase in vaping as “a revolution”.
The number of vapers is up from 1.7% (about 800,000 people) 10 years ago. The report also highlighted that about 2.4 million British vapers are former smokers, while 1.5 million still smoke, and 350,000 have never had smoked.
In line with countless studies indicating the effectivity of vaping products as smoking cessation tools, many of the participants said that vaping has helped them quit. Most vapers reported using a refillable tank system.
Concerns about disposables
The report also highlighted the sudden rise in the use of disposable vapes, growing from 2.3% last year to a significant 15%.Similarly, the annual YouGov youth survey for ASH carried out in March and published on July 7th, has recently indicated an increase in teen vaping and experimentation via disposable vapes.
Current vaping among U.K. children aged 11-17 was up from 4% in 2020 to 7% in 2022, reported the survey. While the percentage of teens who reported ever having tried vaping has increased from 14% in 2020 to 16% in 2022. Disposable vapes were the most commonly used types of devices, with a concerning increase from 7% in 2020 and 8% n 2021, to 52% in 2022. Elf Bar and Geek Bar seemed to be the most popular brands, with only 30% reporting having tried other brands.