Vaping twice as likely as gum to help smokers quit, research finds

Study shows 18% success rate with e-cigarettes, compared with 10% with other methods

Sarah Boseley Health editor
Wed 30 Jan 2019 22.00 GMT

People are almost twice as likely to succeed in quitting smoking if they use e-cigarettes than if they rely on nicotine replacement patches and gums, a new study has shown.

The research, focused on nearly 900 long-term smokers seeking NHS help to quit, was hailed as a landmark by experts in public health in the UK who believe e-cigarettes have already helped bring down the smoking rate. However, there was less enthusiasm in the United States, where there is concern that vaping nicotine is addictive and may cause children to start smoking.

Prof Peter Hajek from Queen Mary University of London led a randomised controlled trial to establish whether e-cigarettes were a better aid to quitting than nicotine replacement therapy. Their research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The mostly middle-aged smokers were randomly assigned to be given an e-cigarette starter kit or nicotine replacement therapy such as patches, lozenges, sprays or gum. All were given behavioural support. At the end of the year, 18% of the vapers were no longer smoking , compared with almost 10% of the others.

It is the first trial to compare the licensed quitting aids with e-cigarettes, which are not licensed for medical use. Hajek believes the results could change the advice smokers are given.

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