Cochrane Explains Latest Research

Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson presented an overview of the new evidence in vape research. In total, Cochrane has found three new studies to be included in its systematic review:

The first, from University College London, looks at people who smoke and are experiencing a mental health condition. They found free ecig kits were well received and that there were no adverse conditions reported. There was no marked improvement in mental health condition. This was a small-scale feasibility study so no major conclusions can be drawn. The next step will be to see if the team roll out the research as a larger trial.

The second study was led by Dr. Pericot-Valverde at Clemson University in the United States. It was a single arm study including 30 people with an opioid use disorder. They were offered refillable starter kits. The group showed that their carbon monoxide levels had decreased, showing that vapes had replaced tobacco cigarettes.

The last study was led by Dr Rebecca Chiffer at the Thomas Jefferson University and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports. The work looked at 30 participants experiencing homelessness who were provided with a pod kit and juices. Again, participants showed reduced carbon monoxide levels.

Jamie and Nicola then shared the findings of their new Cochrane review of interventions for quitting vaping published in January 2025 and funded by Cancer Research UK. 

This new review included nine studies in just over 5,000 participants. Studies tested nicotine replacement therapy, cytisine, varenicline, nicotine/vaping reduction and text message-based interventions. 

The review found that text-message-based interventions may help young people to stop vaping and that varenicline may help people to stop vaping when compared to no or minimal support. They said that they can’t be sure that the results from this study can be applied to any other text message intervention.

There was some promising evidence from a shorter study of cytisine. More information is needed on other interventions, on potential harms and on the effect on use of tobacco cigarettes. 

They stated that as this is a new area of research there is only a very small number of studies available – therefore it is not possible to draw sweeping conclusions about any intervention helping people to stop vaping long-term.

Twenty ongoing studies are looking at a range of interventions, including:

• School and web-based lessons
• Varenicline
• NRT
• Smart-phone apps
• Telephone support
• Video support

Concern was expressed at the growing numbers of people who are using smoking as a way to quit vaping, with stories appearing in the media of American parents giving their children cigarettes.

Associate Professor Nicola Lindson concluded by stating: “E-cigarettes help people to quit smoking.”

She continued, “Some people maybe questioning that if this is a good quit tool then why do we want people to quit vaping?”

 Lindson explained there are a couple of key reasons for this new area of research:

1. There are people who want to quit vaping
2. There are a lot of people worried about switching to vaping – and they wonder if people can be shown there are ways to quit vaping, they may be more willing to swap away from smoking

References:

• Let’s Talk E-cigarettes - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1QBi1NbflcGRJHCREjZhsr
• Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation - https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub8/full

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

View Articles

Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.