A majority of individuals who smoke e-cigarettes had an interest in quitting, although this interest was highest in former cigarette users, according to the results of a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.

Researchers measured the interest in quitting e-cigarette use in adults as part of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Wave 4. The assessment used a survey approach to determine those who attempted to quit e-cigarettes in the past 12 months, those who plan to eventually quit e-cigarettes, and the level of interest in quitting.

Among the 30,191 adults who completed the survey in the cohort, 1988 were established e-cigarette users (6.5%). Among these 1988 e-cigarette users, 59% identified as men and 75% identified as non-Hispanic White. Individuals were further subdivided into concurrent traditional cigarette smokers (n=1053), former traditional cigarette smokers (n=540), and never traditional cigarette smokers (n=371).

Former smokers represented the highest proportion of participants planning to quit (66.1%). For dual users the level was 59.0% and for never smokers it was 55.4%. Although the differences were not statistically significant, former cigarette smokers rated higher interest in quitting compared with other groups.

“A majority of e-cigarette users expressed interest in eventually quitting vaping,” the study authors wrote.  “Not surprisingly, since e-cigarette use is often initiated to quit cigarettes, former cigarette smokers had the highest levels of intention to quit and interest in quitting vaping.”

Disclosure: Several study authors declared affiliations with the pharmaceutical industry. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

Reference

Palmer AM, Smith TT, Nahhas GJ, et al. Interest in quitting e-cigarettes among adult e-cigarette users with and without cigarette smoking history. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(4):e214146. Published online April 1, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.4146