Does vaping help people stop smoking cigarettes? New study has answers

Smokers and e-cigarette advocates often believe that vaping helps people to quit the use of tobacco. However, new research provides strong evidence contradicting this belief, challenging the widely held assumption.

The research was conducted by a team of scientists at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, and at Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego.

Their significant results have recently been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Vaping vs. smoking

“Most smokers think vaping will help you quit smoking,” stated John P. Pierce, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health (HWSPH), and one of the study’s co-authors.

“However, this belief is not supported by science to date. While some researchers have suggested that smokers who switch to daily vaping will be more successful in quitting smoking, we studied quitting success among both daily and non-daily vapers and came up with a quite definitive answer.”

More than 6,000 U.S. smokers took part in the study, of which 943 were also smokers who vaped.

One striking finding from this study was that quitting smoking was less successful among vapers than among smokers who didn’t vape.

Daily vape users were 4.1% less successful at quitting smoking, and occasional vape users were 5.3% less successful.

Misleading perception of vaping

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that close to one out of every five Americans consumes tobacco products.

Most tobacco consumers are cigarette smokers although, in recent times, there has been a shift towards vaping, mostly because people feel that it is safer than smoking cigarettes.

This perception of safety reinforces the illusion that vaping can aid a smoker to get weaned off cigarettes.

Interestingly, researchers took note of the potential dangers of vaping, and asserted that e-cigarettes are not benign.

“The adverse health effects of cigarette smoking become obvious after people have smoked for 20 years. While vapes generally don’t contain the same harmful chemicals as cigarette smoke, they have other risks, and we just don’t yet know what the health consequences of vaping over 20 to 30 years will be,” shared Pierce.

Smoking and vaping – definitive study

One particular strength of the research is its capacity to adjust for a large number of variables that are understood to impact the cessation of smoking.

The scientists carefully controlled for variables such as smoking frequency, levels of interest in quitting, having a smoke-free household, and socioeconomic status.

This way, they were able to ensure that what they found wasn’t confounded by outside factors, and therefore the conclusions drawn would be stronger.

“For example, if a smoker is already very interested in quitting, has a smoke-free home, and does not smoke daily, they are much more likely to successfully quit, regardless of whether they vape or not,” said senior author Karen Messer, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health.

“We matched each smoker/vaper on such characteristics. You have to make very sure you’re comparing like with like, and that’s why this analysis is so definitive.”

According to the researchers, previous studies that failed to account for these confounding factors have contributed to the persistent misconception that vaping aids smoking cessation.

Informing public health policy

The findings also have significant implications for public health policy, particularly in connection with the marketing of e-cigarettes.

Young people are often the target of marketing campaigns and may find themselves using e-cigarettes as a stepping stone to nicotine addiction.

“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the impact of vaping on people,” commented Natalie Quach,  a third-year biostatistics Ph.D. student at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, and the study’s first author.

“But what we do know is that the idea that vaping helps people quit isn’t actually true. It is more likely that it keeps them addicted to nicotine.”

Messer emphasized the importance of rigorous research in shaping public health strategies.

“As the public health community continues to grapple with the complexities of tobacco control, it is essential that we rely on rigorous scientific evidence to inform our policies and interventions,” she stated.

“Our research shows that misleading associations between vaping and smoking cessation routinely occur unless confounding characteristics are carefully accounted for.”

Why this study matters

These findings highlight the importance of evidence-based policymaking, particularly as e-cigarette use continues to increase.

Without careful consideration of the full range of influences on smoking behavior, the public may continue to be misled about the role of vaping in tobacco cessation.

The full study was published in the JAMA.

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