Quit smoking: Why do we give up the electronic cigarette?

Is the electronic cigarette suitable for quitting smoking?

Most e-cigarette users report that they intend to quit, but there are few evidence-based intervention studies for e-cigarette cessation. So the authors of the study conducted by authors from different American universities sought to understand how and why e-cigarette users attempt to quit smoking on their own. Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online crowdsourcing platform. Those who reported ever using e-cigarettes regularly and attempting to quit e-cigarettes were eligible to participate. Measures included demographic characteristics, use of other tobacco products, characteristics of e-cigarette devices, barriers to quitting e-cigarettes, and facilitators to quitting e-cigarettes. A total of 89.0% of respondents reported using an e-cigarette containing nicotine, 20.2% reported a nicotine concentration between 4 and 6 mg/mL, 32.8% reported using multiple flavors, and 77.7% reported using their e-cigarette every day or some days. The main reason given for quitting the e-cigarette was health (42.2%), and 56.7% reported trying to quit “cold turkey.” During quit attempts, 41.0% reported intense cravings.

According to the content analysis, the most frequently cited suggestion by those wishing to quit e-cigarettes was the desire to be entertained without nicotine (19.9%), followed by reducing, stopping nicotine use (16.9%).

E-Cigarette Quit Attempts and Experiences in a Convenience Sample of Adult Users. M. A. Bluestein & coll. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 2332; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032332