e-Cigarette cessation study
September 9, 2013
THE Australian Self-Medication Industry
is advocating that electronic
cigarettes should be regulated as
registered therapeutic goods, in
the light of the publication of a new
study about the effectiveness of the
devices as a smoking cessation aid.
It’s the first time that e-cigarettes
have been studied in relation
to smoking cessation, with the
research from the National Industry
of Health Innovation at the
University of Auckland published
online in The Lancet yesterday.
The study intriguingly found
that the devices, which produce a
vapour containing nicotine, were
at least as effective as nicotine
patches in helping people to give
up smoking.
7.3% of smokers using e-cigarettes
had quit after six months,
compared to 5.8% using patches.
And although it was only a small
sample size, Professor Chris Bullen
from the University of Auckland
said “while our patches don’t show
any clear-cut differences between
e-cigarettes and patches in terms
of ‘quit success’ after six months,
it certainly seems that e-cigarettes
were more effective in helping
smokers who didn’t quit to cut
down”.
Professor Bullen said it was also
interesting that study participants
seemed to be much more
enthusiastic about e-cigarettes
than patches, and said given their
increasing popularity “larger
longer-term trials are urgently
needed to establish whether these
devices might be able to fulfil their
potential as effective and popular
smoking cessation aids”.
ASMI expressed caution about the
study, saying that currently there’s
insufficient data to determine
whether e-cigarettes can be
considered safe, effective and
reliable smoking cessation aids.
“This data would be required to
classify e-cigarettes as therapeutic
goods and allow them to be
sold alongside proven nicotine
replacement therapies,” ASMI said.
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