Smokers who convert to vaping are more likely to relapse within 12 months than those who quit.
- The electronic cigarette increases the risk of relapse by 8.5% compared to those who stop all consumption.
- This is the first study to examine in depth whether switching to a less harmful nicotine source can be sustained over time without falling back into cigarettes.
Many people see electronic cigarettes as a “gentle” way to quit smoking. American researchers from the University of California at San Diego expose the limits of this method which, according to their work, increases the risk of relapse in the following year, compared to those who decide to stop everything. They published their results on October 19 in the journal JAMA Network.
One in two smokers relapse after quitting
“Our results suggest that people who quit smoking and switched to e-cigarettes actually increased their risk of smoking relapse in the next year by 8.5% compared to those who quit every day. tobacco products”, says Professor John Pierce, author of the study. To arrive at these results, the researchers followed 13,604 American smokers between 2013 and 2015. During the second year, they compared former smokers to those who only switched to electronic cigarettes or other alternatives. at the cigarette shop.
Among former smokers who abstained from all tobacco products, half quit smoking for at least 12 months. In comparison, 41.5% of those who switched to e-cigarettes or other alternatives had the same success. “Our objective in this study was to assess whether recent former smokers who switched to e-cigarettes or another tobacco product were less likely to relapse to cigarettes compared to those who remained tobacco-free.”, continues Karen Messer, lead author of the study.
A pioneering study
Among the smokers followed, 9.4% managed to quit completely in the first year. Of these former smokers, 63% remained tobacco-free throughout the study when 37% switched to another form of tobacco product. Of these, one in four used e-cigarettes, with most using these devices daily.
“This is the first study to examine in depth whether switching to a less harmful nicotine source can be sustained over time without falling back into cigarettes.concludes Professor Pierce. If switching to e-cigarettes were a viable way to quit smoking, then those who switched to e-cigarettes should have much lower relapse rates. We found no evidence of this.”
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