Study Finds Smokers Who Try E-Cigarettes To Quit Are Younger, More Motivated

September 3, 2013- New research published in the September, 2013 issue of the American Journal of Public Health finds that smokers who are likely to use electronic cigarettes (also called e-cigarettes) to quit smoking are characterized as being younger and more motivated to quit smoking.

A team of researchers with the University of Hawaii Cancer Center analyzed cross-sectional survey data in 2010–2012 from 1,567 adult daily smokers ("self-identified smokers who had consumed at least three cigarettes a day and at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime") in Hawaii using logistic regression. They concluded, "Smokers who try e-cigarettes to quit smoking appear to be serious about wanting to quit. Despite lack of evidence regarding efficacy, smokers treat e-cigarettes as valid alternatives to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved cessation aids. Research is needed to test the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes as cessation aids."

Highlights from their abstract include: - Of the participants, 13% reported having ever used e-cigarettes to quit smoking. Smokers who had used them reported higher motivation to quit, higher quitting self-efficacy, and longer recent quit duration than did other smokers.

- Age and Native Hawaiian ethnicity were inversely associated with increased likelihood of ever using e-cigarettes for cessation.

- Other significant correlates were higher motivation to quit, quitting self-efficacy and ever using US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved cessation aids such as nicotine gum.

In their published report, the authors wrote, “If e-cigarettes are ineffective as cessation aids and are potentially a risk, strategies need to be developed to help younger smokers find effective cessation aids. Conversely, if e-cigarettes are found to be relatively safer and effective as cessation aids, the appeal that they have for younger adults should be used to enhance smoking cessation among younger smokers.”

The authors point out that e-cigarettes appear to have become cessation aids of choice for some smokers who seem to show a relatively higher motivation to quit smoking despite the lack of firm evidence regarding safety or effectiveness.

The conclude,"Thus, this study confirms the importance of promptly developing appropriate e-cigarette regulations that address smokers’ use of e-cigarettes as cessation products.”

The published research is available for purchase online here

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