ArticleRespiratory research2016
Evidence for harm reduction in COPD smokers who switch to electronic cigarettes.
Article in Respiratory research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 146 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between current e-cigarette use and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a meta-analysis focusing on exclusive e-cigarette users.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a stop smoking intervention in adults: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Respiratory health effects of e-cigarette substitution for tobacco cigarettes: a systematic review.Harm reduction journal · 2023Pooled it
- How do we determine the impact of e-cigarettes on cigarette smoking cessation or reduction? Review and recommendations for answering the research question with scientific rigor.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2018Pooled it
- Biomarkers of Exposure and Biomarkers of Potential Harm in Adult Smokers Who Switch to e-Vapor Products Relative to Cigarette Smoking in a 24-week, Randomized, Clinical Trial.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Trial
- Respiratory outcomes in Korean COPD patients using e-cigarettes: methodological and interpretive limitations.Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Response to "Respiratory outcomes in Korean COPD patients using e-cigarettes: methodological and interpretive limitations".Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Heated Tobacco Product Use and Lower Physical Activity Among Japanese Adults With and Without Respiratory Diseases: Findings From the JACSIS Study.Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2026Article
- E-cigarette switching in COPD: reduced cardiovascular events without improvement in respiratory outcomes.Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Non-pharmacologic Prevention of Acute Exacerbation Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2025Article
- Partial amelioration of a chronic cigarette-smoke-induced phenotype in mice by switching to electronic cigarettes.Archives of toxicology · 2025Article
- Impact of electronic cigarette usage on the onset of respiratory symptoms and COPD among Chinese adults.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The effects of electronic cigarette use patterns on health-related symptom burden and quality of life: analysis of US prospective longitudinal cohort study data.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Smoking cessation and vaccination.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023Article
- Effects of Electronic Cigarette Use on Cardiovascular-Disease-Related Inflammatory Biomarkers in Smokers with HIV in a Switching Study in the United States.Pharmacoepidemiology · 2023Article
- Attempts to quit smoking, use of smoking cessation methods, and associated characteristics among COPD patients.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2022Article
- Electronic cigarette liquids impair metabolic cooperation and alter proteomic profiles in V79 cells.Respiratory research · 2022Article
- Article
- Vaping-Associated Lung Injury: A Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundElectronic cigarettes (ECs) are battery-operated devices designed to vaporise nicotine, which may help smokers quitting or reducing their tobacco consumption. There is a lack of data on the health effects of EC use among smokers with COPD and whether regular use results in improvement in subjective and objective COPD outcomes. We investigated long-term changes in objective and subjective respiratory outcomes in smokers with a diagnosis of COPD who quit or reduced substantially their tobacco consumption by supplementing with or converting only to ECs use.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective chart review of patients with COPD to identify those reporting regular daily use of ECs on at least two follow-up visits at 12- (F/up1) and 24-months (F/up2). Regularly smoking COPD patients were included as a reference group.
resultsA marked reduction in cigarette consumption was observed in ECs users. A significant reduction in COPD exacerbations was reported in the COPD EC user group, their mean (±SD) decreasing from 2.3 (±1) at baseline to 1.8 (±1; p = 0.002) and 1.4 (±0.9; p < 0.001) at F/up1 and F/up2 respectively. A significant reduction in COPD exacerbations was also observed in ECs users who also smoked conventional cigarettes (i.e. 'dual users'). COPD symptoms and ability to perform physical activities improved statistically in the EC group at both visits, with no change in the control group.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that ECs use may aid smokers with COPD reduce their cigarette consumption or remain abstinent, which results in marked improvements in annual exacerbation rate as well as subjective and objective COPD outcomes.
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Registered trials
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.