New Data Indicate Vaping May Help Patients Quit Smoking

Despite hopes that vaping would help patients quit smoking, research has shown mixed results; however, new data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study indicate that smokers who also use an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) are now more successful at quitting smoking than those who don’t; this is a shift from just a few years ago, when ENDS use had no effect on cessation rates. The study was published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research (doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae027).

The researchers analyzed data from the PATH Study, which tracks tobacco use in a nationally representative sample of U.S. youth and adults. Specifically, they looked at smoking cessation rates between September 2013 and November 2021 for several cohorts of participants aged 21 years and older. They then analyzed ENDS use in those who had quit smoking at the end of the follow-up period.

During the early years of the study period (2013–2016), there was no difference in ENDS use among those who quit smoking (15.5% for those who used ENDS versus 15.6% for those who didn’t). However, during the later years (2018–2021), those who used ENDS were significantly more likely to quit (30.9% for those who used ENDS versus 20.0% for those who didn’t).

The researchers suggested several possible factors behind this shift in ENDS use among those who quit smoking: expanding ENDS marketplaces, popularity of ENDS, increased nicotine yields available through ENDS, and state and federal tobacco control initiatives. They noted that the COVID-19 pandemic affected data collection protocols and also may have influenced smoking behaviors.

“While our study doesn’t give the answers as to why vaping is associated with cigarette quitting in the population today when it wasn’t associated with quitting years ago, design changes leading to e-cigarettes that deliver nicotine more effectively should be investigated,” said lead author Karin Kasza, PhD, assistant professor of oncology in the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y., in a press release.