Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26825455›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of public health2016

The efficacy and short-term effects of electronic cigarettes as a method for smoking cessation: a systematic review and a meta-analysis.

S Khoudigian, T Devji, L Lytvyn, K Campbell, R Hopkins, D O'Reilly

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
45citing papers in PubMed, 6 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

45 citing papers in PubMed, 6 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. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Overview of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems: A Systematic Review.American journal of preventive medicine · 2017
    Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Comparable Impairment of Vascular Endothelial Function by a Wide Range of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022
    Article
  12. Article
  13. E-Cigarette Aerosol Deposition and Disposition of [Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
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

6 authors.

S KhoudigianDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. khoudisv@mcmaster.ca.
T DevjiDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
L LytvynDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
K CampbellDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
R HopkinsDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
D O'ReillyDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesE-cigarettes are increasingly popular as smoking cessation aids. This review assessed the efficacy of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation as well as desire to smoke, withdrawal symptoms, and adverse events in adult smokers.

methodsA systematic review was conducted. Studies comparing e-cigarettes to other nicotine replacement therapies or placebo were included. Data were pooled using meta-analysis.

resultsOf 569 articles, 5 were eligible. Study participants were more likely to stop smoking when using nicotine e-cigarettes (43/489, 9 %) versus placebo e-cigarettes (8/173, 5 %); however, this difference was not statistically significant (RR 2.02; 95 % CI 0.97, 4.22). The pooled effect estimates for the desire to smoke (RR -0.22; 95 % CI -0.80, 0.36), irritability (RR -0.03; 95% CI -0.38, 0.31), restlessness (RR -0.03; 95 % CI -0.42, 0.35), poor concentration (RR -0.01; 95 % CI -0.35, 0.32), depression (RR -0.01; 95 % CI -0.22, 0.20), hunger (RR -0.01; 95 % CI -0.32, 0.30), and average number of non-serious adverse events (RR -0.09; 95 % CI -0.28, 0.46) were not statistically significantly different. Only one study reported serious adverse events with no apparent association with e-cigarette use.

conclusionsLimited low-quality evidence of a non-statistically significant trend toward smoking cessation in adults using nicotine e-cigarettes exists compared with other therapies or placebo. Larger, high-quality studies are needed to inform policy decisions.

Indexed as

Electronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsNicotineHumansSmokingSmoking CessationSubstance Withdrawal SyndromeTobacco Use Cessation DevicesNicotineE-cigarettesMeta-analysisPublic healthSmoking cessationWithdrawal symptoms

Identifiers

PMID26825455

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.