Cochrane Review Finds E-cigarettes More Effective for Quitting Smoking

Nov.18.2022
Cochrane Review Finds E-cigarettes More Effective for Quitting Smoking
Cochrane Review finds e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapy in helping smokers quit.

Today, Cochrane Review released a systematic review update on using e-cigarettes to quit smoking. The update included findings from 17 new studies which provided further evidence that e-cigarettes are a more effective tool than traditional nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) for smoking cessation.


The Cochrane Review is a respected standard in the medical community, summarizing and explaining scientific and medical research while also providing commentary and meta-analyses on key scientific issues. Their latest report examines the effectiveness, tolerance, and safety of e-cigarettes in aiding smokers to quit. The review analyzed a total of 78 studies, which included 22,052 participants. Of those studies, 40 were randomized controlled trials.


The main findings and conclusions of the Cochrane Review are as follows:


There is "significant and reliable evidence" indicating that electronic cigarettes containing nicotine can increase the likelihood for smokers to successfully quit smoking long-term compared to traditional nicotine replacement therapies.


For every 100 people attempting to quit smoking, e-cigarettes can help an additional four individuals quit compared to traditional nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) users.


Evidence also suggests that nicotine e-cigarettes may be more beneficial for people trying to quit smoking than behavioral support, but researchers believe that this evidence still needs to be confirmed.


According to researchers, there is no evidence that e-cigarettes pose a "serious harm".


According to the results of the Cochrane Review, electronic cigarettes can play a critical role in transitioning several generations of cigarette smokers to low-risk nicotine products. The likelihood of completely quitting smoking increases by 43% when comparing those who use flavorless or tobacco-flavored electronic cigarette products, not including other flavors.


The original report can be viewed by clicking on the link: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub7/full.


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