A new study from researchers at the University of California San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and Moores Cancer Center has found that e-cigarette use does not increase smoking cessation among smokers in the United States. In fact, the study suggests that vaping, especially on a daily basis, may actually make it harder for smokers to quit.
The findings, published on March 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), challenge the common belief that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking. "Most smokers think vaping will help you quit smoking," said study co-author John P. Pierce, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health. "However, this belief is not supported by science to date."
Analyzing Data from Over 6,000 U.S. Smokers
The study analyzed data from more than 6,000 U.S. smokers from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, a nationally representative sample of U.S. cigarette smokers. By comparing 943 smokers who also vaped to similar smokers who did not vape, the researchers found:
- Smoking cessation was 4.1% lower among smokers who vaped daily.
- Smoking cessation was 5.3% lower among smokers who vaped, but not daily, compared to matched smokers who did not vape.
Vaping: Not a Harmless Alternative
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 20% of people in the U.S. use tobacco products, with some smokers switching to vaping in recent years, partly because it is generally perceived as less harmful. However, the researchers caution that while e-cigarettes may not have the same health consequences as smoking, they are not harmless.
"The adverse health effects of cigarette smoking become obvious after people have smoked for 20 years," added Pierce, a former director for population sciences at Moores Cancer Center. "While vapes generally don't contain the same harmful chemicals as cigarette smoke, they have other risks, and we just don't yet know what the health consequences of vaping over 20 to 30 years will be."
Controlling for Confounding Factors
One unique strength of the study is that the researchers were able to control for a wide range of other variables known to be associated with quitting, such as non-daily cigarette smoking, interest in quitting, the presence of a smoke-free home, and socioeconomic factors.
"You have to make very sure you're comparing like with like, and that's why this analysis is so definitive," said senior author Karen Messer, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and director of the Biostatistics Shared Resource at Moores Cancer Center.
Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice
The study's results have important implications for public health policy and practice surrounding e-cigarettes, particularly how they are marketed to adolescents, for whom e-cigarettes often serve as a gateway to nicotine dependence.
"There's still a lot we don't know about the impact of vaping on people," said Natalie Quach, a third-year biostatistics Ph.D. student at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and the study's first author. "But what we do know is that the idea that vaping helps people quit isn't actually true. It is more likely that it keeps them addicted to nicotine."
As the public health community continues to navigate the complexities of tobacco control, it is crucial to rely on rigorous scientific evidence to inform policies and interventions. This study provides definitive evidence that challenges the notion that e-cigarettes can help smokers quit, emphasizing the need for a cautious approach to the promotion and regulation of these products.
