Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26444980›Full record

Trial reportBMC public health2015

Protocol for a randomised pragmatic policy trial of nicotine products for quitting or long-term substitution in smokers.

Doug Fraser, Ron Borland, Coral Gartner

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialPragmatic Clinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  4. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024
    Pooled it
  5. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022
    Pooled it
  6. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
    Pooled it
  7. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
    Pooled it
  8. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020
    Pooled it
  9. A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of Remote Varenicline Sampling to Promote Treatment Engagement and Smoking Cessation.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021
    Trial
  10. A Naturalistic, Randomized Pilot Trial of E-Cigarettes: Uptake, Exposure, and Behavioral Effects.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2017
    Trial
  11. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Review
  12. E-cigarettes for the management of nicotine addiction.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2016
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Doug FraserSchool of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. d.fraser2@uq.edu.au.
Ron BorlandThe Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. ron.borland@cancervic.org.au.
Coral GartnerSchool of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. c.gartner@uq.edu.au.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSmoking is Australia's leading preventable cause of premature mortality and a major contributor to the national disease burden. If quit rates do not dramatically improve, then smoking will continue to be a major public health issue for decades to come. Harm-reduction approaches using novel nicotine products like e-cigarettes as long term replacements for smoking have the potential to improve quit rates. However, little research has assessed such approaches. METHODS/

design

designThree-arm parallel-group pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

participantsPeople living in Australia who are at least 18 years old, smoke five or more cigarettes per day and are willing to try a sample of nicotine products.

interventionParticipants are randomised to receive standard quit advice and medicinal nicotine (Condition A); quit or substitute advice and medicinal nicotine (Condition B); or quit or substitute advice and medicinal nicotine and e-cigarettes (Condition C). Participants choose which (if any) nicotine products to receive to try in a free sample pack followed by a two to three week free supply of their favourite product(s) and the option to purchase more at a discounted price. Follow-up surveys will assess nicotine product use and smoking. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Continuous abstinence for at least 6 months. Target sample size: 1600 people (Condition A: 340; Condition B: 630; Condition C: 630) provides at least 80 % power at p = 0.05 to detect a 5 % difference in abstinence rates between each condition. DISCUSSION: This trial will provide data on tobacco harm-reduction approaches and in particular the use of e-cigarettes as a replacement for smoking.

trial registrationAustralian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12612001210864. Date of registration: 15/11/2012.

Indexed as

Research DesignTobacco Use Cessation DevicesAustraliaElectronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsHumansNew ZealandNicotinePolicySample SizeSmoking CessationSurveys and QuestionnairesNicotine

Identifiers

PMID26444980
PMCPMC4596390

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.