Nicotine e-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes, are more effective in helping people quit smoking than many conventional methods such as nicotine gums and patches and quitting with behavioural support or no support at all, an updated Cochrane review finds.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death, resulting in more than seven million deaths per year, including 1.6 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The analysis, part of an ongoing living systematic review that is updated as new evidence becomes available, examined 80 randomized controlled trials involving 29,861 participants, nine of which were new to this update.
The review found high-certainty evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes led to higher quit rates than nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as patches and gum, resulting in about 4 more quitters per 100 people. Nicotine e-cigarettes also outperformed non-nicotine cigarettes, resulting in about 2 more quitters per 100.
Compared to no support or behavioural support (such as individual counselling and group programmes) quit rates were still higher when people were also provided e-cigarettes, though this evidence is less certain due to risk of bias in the study design.