Smokers who get e-cigarette flavour advice more likely to quit, report finds

Study says quarter of smokers had quit after three months and 13% cut consumption by more than half
Smokers who get help picking the flavour of e-cigarette they will use and receive supportive text messages are much more likely to quit, research has found.

The study, led by London South Bank University (LSBU), explored in what settings vapes could help those addicted to smoking give up the habit. After three months, a quarter had quit and a further 13% reduced their cigarette consumption by more than half.

The research showed that those who received help to choose a vape flavour and got supportive messages were 55% more likely to give up in three months than those who did not get these services.

Lynne Dawkins, a professor of nicotine and tobacco studies at LSBU, said: “Smoking kills approximately 8 million people worldwide every year and even some of the often most effective treatments have little effect on reducing the number of smokers. From this treatment, 24.5% were smoke-free after three months and a further 13% had reduced their cigarette consumption by more than 50%.

“The simplicity of tailored support through flavour advice and supportive messages could have a huge impact in helping people lead smoke-free lives.”

The research examined five approaches to try to increase the number of people who stop smoking after receiving an e-cigarette bought online. The interventions used were: tailored advice on which product, nicotine strength or flavour to buy; brief information on vaping harms relative to smoking; and text message support. Some people received all of these, others received none and some received some but not all.

Advice on product, nicotine strength or providing information on vaping harms relative to smoking did not improve quitting rates. The study, delivered in collaboration with partners from University College London (UCL), University of East Anglia (UEA) and University of New South Wales (UNSW), recruited 1,214 participants through social media.

Earlier in the year, the government announced that 1 million smokers would be offered vape starter kits as part of a “swap to stop” scheme to make the nation “smoke-free”. The kits will be offered to almost one in five of all smokers in England as part of a push that is the first of its kind in the world, the health minister Neil O’Brien said.

Officials said this was the first scheme of its kind to be rolled out nationwide, with those hoping to swap offered a choice of products, strengths and flavours. The scheme will cost about £45m over two years, which will come from the Department of Health and Social Care’s budget.

Deborah Arnott, the chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “Vapes increase smokers’ chances of successfully quitting, as do vouchers for pregnant smokers, so these are welcome steps in the right direction, but they are nowhere near sufficient.”

Concern has been raised that a big push is needed if the pledge to get the nation smoke-free by 2030 – equating to getting smoking rates to less than 5% – is to be met.

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