ArticlePloS one2018
Are electronic nicotine delivery systems helping cigarette smokers quit? Evidence from a prospective cohort study of U.S. adult smokers, 2015-2016.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 3 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
76 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between e-cigarette use and cigarette abstinence or changes in continued cigarette smoking among individuals who smoke cigarettes.Harm reduction journal · 2026Pooled it
- E-Cigarette Use and Adult Cigarette Smoking Cessation: A Meta-Analysis.American journal of public health · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of non-menthol flavours in e-cigarettes on perceptions and use: an updated systematic review.BMJ open · 2019Pooled it
- E-cigarette use frequency mediates effects in three randomized controlled trials of reduced nicotine cigarettes with tobacco vs preferred flavor e-cigarettes in high-risk populations in the U.S.Preventive medicine · 2025Trial
- Piloting a clinical laboratory method to evaluate the influence of potential modified risk tobacco products on smokers' quit-related motivation, choice, and behavior.Addictive behaviors · 2019Trial
- Aerosol, vapor, or chemicals? College student perceptions of harm from electronic cigarettes and support for a tobacco-free campus policy.Journal of American college health : J of ACHTrial
- Effect of electronic cigarettes on the change of Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence scores during 1-year follow-up.Korean journal of family medicine · 2025Article
- Interactions between ENDS and cigarette use: evidence from a 2022 national telephone survey in South Africa.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- E-cigarette and cannabis use among current and recently quit smokers: Co-use and Co-cessation.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- Potential impact of e-cigarettes on life-years lost from conventional smoking in Ukraine, a replication study.Central European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Tobacco control messages for individuals who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes: a randomised trial comparing biomarker outcome with cessation experience narratives.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- Predictors of Quitting Dual Use of Electronic Cigarettes and Cigarettes During Pregnancy.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2024Article
- Article
- Patterns of Daily Cigarette and E-cigarette Use among United States Youth and Young Adults: Insights from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort between 2018 and 2019.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- Disparities in trajectories of cigarette and E-cigarette use across sexual orientation groups of young adult men and women in the US.Addictive behaviors · 2023Article
- An examination of quitting smoking as a reason for vaping by the type of nicotine vaping device used most often among adults who smoke and vape: Findings from the Canada, England and the United States 2020 ITC Smoking and Vaping Survey.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- The role of flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems in smoking cessation: A systematic review.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Review
- Effectiveness of ENDS, NRT and medication for smoking cessation among cigarette-only users: a longitudinal analysis of PATH Study wave 3 (2015-2016) and 4 (2016-2017), adult data.Tobacco control · 2023Article
- Associations Between E-cigarette Use and E-cigarette Flavors With Cigarette Smoking Quit Attempts and Quit Success: Evidence From a U.S. Large, Nationally Representative 2018-2019 Survey.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2023Article
- The Potential Impact of E-cigarettes on the Life-Years Lost from Conventional Smoking in the Russian Federation.Journal of consumer policy · 2023Article
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe potential of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) to reduce the cardiovascular and other disease risks of smoking is of great interest. While many smokers report using ENDS for cessation, their impact under real-world use patterns and conditions on adult smokers' quitting behavior is uncertain. The objective of this study was to generate more recent and comprehensive evidence on the effect of "real world" ENDS use on the population quit rates of adult smokers while taking account of frequency and duration of use, device type, e-liquid flavor, and reasons for use. METHODS AND
findingsWe conducted a population-based, prospective cohort study of a random probability sample of 1284 U.S. adult smokers recruited in August/September 2015 and re-contacted one-year later (September 2016) from GfK's KnowledgePanel, a national, probability-based web-panel designed to be representative of non-institutionalized U.S. adults. Among the 1081 baseline smokers who remained members of KnowledgePanel, 858 completed the follow-up survey. The primary outcome was smoking abstinence for at least 30 days prior to follow-up. Secondary outcomes were making a quit attempt during the 12-month study period and number of cigarettes smoked per day at follow-up. The adjusted odds of quitting smoking were lower for those that used ENDS at baseline (9.4%, 95% CI = 5.22%-16.38%; AOR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.13-0.72) compared to smokers who did not use at ENDS (18.9%, 95% CI = 14.24%-24.68%). Smokers who used ENDS daily at some point during the study period were also less likely to quit smoking than nonusers (AOR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.04-0.82). Limited ability to draw causal inferences from the observational design and a lack of biochemical verification of quitting smoking or ENDS use are limitations of this study.
conclusionsWe found no evidence that ENDS use, within context of the 2015-2016 US regulatory and tobacco/vaping market landscape, helped adult smokers quit at rates higher than smokers who did not use these products. Absent any meaningful changes, ENDS use among adult smokers is unlikely to be a sufficient solution to obtaining a meaningful increase in population quit rates. Additional research is needed to reconcile the divergent literature and monitor the impact of ENDS in an environment of rapidly evolving markets and regulatory policies.
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.