SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2018
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.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 45 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
45 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Potential for non-combustible nicotine products to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in smoking: a systematic review and synthesis of best available evidence.BMC public health · 2019Pooled it
- Are Electronic Cigarettes an Effective Aid to Smoking Cessation or Reduction Among Vulnerable Groups? A Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2019Pooled it
- Association between ENDS device and liquid characteristics and cigarette smoking, quitting and smoking reduction behaviors among U.S. adults who frequently use ENDS.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Changes in e-cigarette use and subsequent cigarette smoking cessation in the USA: evidence from a prospective PATH study, 2013-2018.Tobacco control · 2024Article
- Effect of unguided e-cigarette provision on uptake, use, and smoking cessation among adults who smoke in the USA: a naturalistic, randomised, controlled clinical trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Prospective association between e-cigarette use frequency patterns and cigarette smoking abstinence among adult cigarette smokers in the United States.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- 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 · 2022Article
- Preferred flavors and tobacco use patterns in adult dual users of cigarettes and ENDS.Addictive behaviors · 2022Observational
- Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes.American journal of public health · 2021Article
- How Does the Use of Flavored Nicotine Vaping Products Relate to Progression Toward Quitting Smoking? Findings From the 2016 and 2018 ITC 4CV Surveys.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021Article
- Smoking cessation or initiation: The paradox of vaping.Preventive medicine reports · 2021Article
- Applying the Population Health Standard to the Regulation of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021Review
- E-cigarettes and Cessation: Asking Different Questions Requires Different Methods.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021Article
- Patterns of E-cigarette Use and Subsequent Cigarette Smoking Cessation Over 2 Years (2013/2014-2015/2016) in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021Article
- Is Good Enough Good Enough? E-Cigarettes, Evidence, and Policy.American journal of public health · 2021Article
- Perceptions of e-cigarettes among smokers and non-smokers in households with children in rural China: A cross-sectional study.Tobacco induced diseases · 2021Article
- Youth vaping and smoking and parental vaping: a panel survey.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Article
- Commentary on Beard et al. (2019): A systematic approach sharpens insights on e-cigarettes and smoking cessation.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2020Article
- Associations between dual use of e-cigarettes and smoking cessation: A prospective study of smokers in England.Addictive behaviors · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo propose a hierarchy of methodological criteria to consider when determining whether a study provides sufficient information to answer the question of whether e-cigarettes can facilitate cigarette smoking cessation or reduction.
designA PubMed search to 1 February 2017 was conducted of all studies related to e-cigarettes and smoking cessation or reduction. SETTINGS: Australia, Europe, Iran, Korea, New Zealand and the United States. PARTICIPANTS AND STUDIES: 91 articles. MEASUREMENTS: Coders organized studies according to six proposed methodological criteria: (1) examines outcome of interest (cigarette abstinence or reduction), (2) assesses e-cigarette use for cessation as exposure of interest, (3) employs appropriate control/comparison groups, (4) ensures that measurement of exposure precedes the outcome, (5) evaluates dose and duration of the exposure and (6) evaluates the type and quality of the e-cigarette used.
findingsTwenty-four papers did not examine the outcomes of interest. Forty did not assess the specific reason for e-cigarette use as an exposure of interest. Twenty papers did not employ prospective study designs with appropriate comparison groups. The few observational studies meeting some of the criteria (duration, type, use for cessation) triangulated with findings from three randomized trials to suggest that e-cigarettes can help adult smokers quit or reduce cigarette smoking.
conclusionsOnly a small proportion of studies seeking to address the effect of e-cigarettes on smoking cessation or reduction meet a set of proposed quality standards. Those that do are consistent with randomized controlled trial evidence in suggesting that e-cigarettes can help with smoking cessation or reduction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.