Add on E cigarettes to standard smoking-cessation counseling may lead to higher rates of tobacco abstinence: NEJM

In an open-label, controlled trial, adults smoking at least five tobacco cigarettes per day were randomly assigned to either an intervention group, receiving free e-cigarettes, e-liquids, and smoking-cessation counseling, or a control group, receiving standard counseling and a voucher. The primary outcome was biochemically validated continuous abstinence from smoking at 6 months.

The key findings of the study were:

• 1246 participants were randomized, with 622 in the intervention group and 624 in the control group.

• Validated continuous abstinence from tobacco smoking at 6 months was 28.9% in the intervention group and 16.3% in the control group.

• Abstinence from smoking in the 7 days before the 6-month visit was 59.6% in the intervention group and 38.5% in the control group.

• Serious adverse events occurred in 4.0% of the intervention group and 5.0% of the control group.

The addition of e-cigarettes to standard smoking-cessation counseling led to higher rates of tobacco abstinence compared to counseling alone. This suggests that e-cigarettes may be a beneficial tool in smoking cessation efforts.

Reference:

Auer, R., Schoeni, A., Humair, J.-P., Jacot-Sadowski, I., Berlin, I., Stuber, M. J., Haller, M. L., Tango, R. C., Frei, A., Strassmann, A., Bruggmann, P., Baty, F., Brutsche, M., Tal, K., Baggio, S., Jakob, J., Sambiagio, N., Hopf, N. B., Feller, M., … Berthet, A. Electronic nicotine-delivery systems for smoking cessation. The New England Journal of Medicine,2024;390(7):601–610. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2308815