Summary
Introduction:
This text is a summary of a systematic review and meta-analyses examining the association between e-cigarette flavors and smoking cessation or longer-term e-cigarette use. The review also explores the evidence of people switching between e-cigarette flavors. The text provides information on the study design, key findings, and the main message of the review.
Key Points:
* The review included 16 studies with a total of 10,336 participants.
* Nine studies were judged to be at high risk of bias, two at unclear risk, and five at low risk.
* Subgroup analyses did not show clear associations between flavors and cessation or product use, except for the comparison between nicotine e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
* In the nicotine e-cigarettes versus NRT comparison, studies offering tobacco flavour e-cigarettes showed evidence of a greater proportion of participants still using at 6 months or longer.
* however, there was little evidence for greater 6-month use when studies offered a choice of flavors.
* Substantial statistical heterogeneity within subgroups makes interpretation of the results unclear.
* In the 10 studies where participants had a choice of flavors, some switching between flavors occurred, but there were no clear patterns in flavor preferences.
* There does not appear to be a clear association between e-cigarette flavors and smoking cessation or longer-term e-cigarette use, possibly due to a paucity of data.
Main Message:
The main message of the text is that there is no clear association between e-cigarette flavors and smoking cessation or longer-term e-cigarette use. however, the review found some evidence suggesting that people using e-cigarettes to quit smoking switch between e-cigarette flavors. Therefore, the authors suggest that future studies should explore the potential mediating and confounding factors that may affect the relationship between flavor use and smoking cessation. Overall, the review highlights the need for more research to inform ongoing policy debate and decisions regarding the availability of e-cigarette flavors.
Citation
Lindson N, Butler aR, Liber a, et al. an exploration of flavours in studies of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation: secondary analyses of a systematic review with meta-analyses. addiction (abingdon, England). 2023;118(4):634-645. doi:10.1111/add.16091
