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Can Electronic Cigarettes Really Help Smokers Quit? (Part 1)

Cacuqecig

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Can Electronic Cigarettes Really Help Smokers Quit? (Part 1)

Facing a series of aggressive regulations and laws which restrict the manufacture, presentation, and sales of Electronic Cigarettes and other vaping products in the United States and the United Kingdom, vapers as well as vape shop owners protested most vehemently against such ungrounded persecutions. One of the most often used protests argues that Electronic Cigarettes serve as a powerful agent for smoking cessation and that the number of smokers has decreased substantially due to the prevalence of use of Electronic Cigarettes. Vapers argue that according to statistics, it is reasonable to conclude that the declining smoking prevalence and increasing quit attempts are caused by the increasing prevalence of use of Electronic Cigarettes. While this may sound sensible, it is required that any honest assertion must be derived from authentic and trustworthy statistics and plausible deductions.

This article tries, referring to existing researches and statistics from www.smokingengland.info and other credible sources, to present and explain the correlation between changes in the prevalence of Electronic Cigarette use in England and changes in quit attempts, quit success, and use of licensed medication and behavioral support in quit attempts. By so doing, this article expects to, from a pure academic and statistical point of view, give a valid answer to those who question whether Electronic Cigarettes really can help smokers quit. Traditional statistic analysis methods are avoided in this article, instead, I relied mostly on graphs and rational deductions from available information so as to make my presentation as simple and concise as possible without sacrificing too much of its validity.

Part 1: A presentation of Electronic Cigarette use among different groups in England

Take a look at Electronic Cigarette use by never smokers and long-term ex-smokers.

E-cigarette use by never smokers and long-term ex-smokers

20170726023842_51747.png

N=59195 never and long-term ex-smokers from Nov 2013

As we can see from the graph, Electronic Cigarette use by never smokers remains negligible but use among long-term ex-smokers has grown since 2013, though moderately.

Have a look at the prevalence of Electronic Cigarette use in smokers and recent ex-smokers.

E-cigarette use by smokers and recent ex-smokers

20170726024001_93066.png

N=25587 adults who smoke or who stopped in the past year; increase p<0.001

The graph tells us that Electronic Cigarette use in smokers and recent ex-smokers has plateaued since 2013 after substantial increases from 2011 to 2013.

Take a look at the use of Electronic Cigarettes among the whole population

Prevalence of E-cigarette use

20170726024136_39468.png

N=74244 adults from Nov 2013

As we can read from the graph, the use of Electronic Cigarettes among the whole population has remained stable since late 2013.

According to the three graphs above, we may easily observe that, although there have been more long-term ex-smokers who became Electronic Cigarette users, the use of Electronic Cigarettes among smokers and recent ex-smokers remained stable since 2013. Contrary to public perception, the Electronic Cigarette boom has long ceased to be. This is confirmed by the graph below:

Use of Electronic Cigarettes while smoking

20170726024508_42375.png

N=23878 smokers

The graph tells us that E-cigarette use has plateaued among smokers. Factoring in the consistent decline in cigarette smoking prevalence as demonstrated by the graph below, we may safely conclude, though without conventional data analysis, that Electronic Cigarette use among all groups (except long-term ex-smokers, the growth of prevalence among which is insubstantial) has remained stable.

Cigarette smoking prevalence

20170726024640_45468.png

Base: All adults; Graph shows prevalence estimate and upper and lower 95% confidence intervals
 
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