Examining Differences in Real-World Effectiveness of e-Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation by Source of Purchase in England: An Observational Study of Different Contexts Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction:
This text is a summary of a study examining the real-world effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, specifically focusing on the source of purchase and the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aimed to determine if purchasing e-cigarettes from specialist vape shops increased their effectiveness for smoking cessation, and if any differences in effectiveness were consistent before and during the pandemic.

Key Points:

* The study used data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, a monthly survey in England, and included 1284 participants who attempted to quit smoking in the past year and used an e-cigarette in their most recent quit attempt.
* The primary outcome of interest was self-reported continuous abstinence from smoking, and the explanatory variable was the source of e-cigarette purchase.
* The study found that 48.1% of participants usually purchase their e-cigarettes from vape shops, declining from 53.6% pre-pandemic to 40.6% during the pandemic.
* There was inconclusive evidence that those purchasing from vape shops had greater odds of quitting smoking (ORadj = 1.25, 95% CI = 0.92 to 1.76).
* The association between purchase source and successful quitting did not depend upon whether purchasing occurred before or during the pandemic (F = 0.08, pinteraction = 0.774; prepandemic: ORadj = 1.23, 0.79--1.91; and pandemic: ORadj = 1.29, 0.81--2.06).
* The study also explored the impact of device type and nicotine concentration on the association between e-cigarette purchase source and effectiveness.
* More data are needed to conclusively determine whether purchasing from a specialist vape shop increases smoking cessation.

Main Message:
The study found inconclusive evidence that purchasing e-cigarettes from specialist vape shops increased their effectiveness for smoking cessation. However, the similar associations between purchase source and quit success across both pre-pandemic and pandemic periods suggest that it is unlikely to be an artifact of unmeasured confounding. Further studies are required to establish whether purchasing from specialist vape shops improves smoking cessation outcomes compared with other purchase sources.

Sharon Cox, Sarah E Jackson, Jamie Brown, Loren Kock, Lion Shahab, Examining Differences in Real-World Effectiveness of e-Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation by Source of Purchase in England: An Observational Study of Different Contexts Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 27, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 125–131, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntae178