Trial reportAddiction (Abingdon, England)2020
Cost-effectiveness of e-cigarettes compared with nicotine replacement therapy in stop smoking services in England (TEC study): a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 12 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
33 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Recommendations on interventions for tobacco smoking cessation in adults in Canada.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Guideline
- Guideline
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Duration of the effectiveness of nicotine electronic cigarettes on smoking cessation and reduction: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Smoking Cessation Interventions in the United Kingdom Accounting for Major Neuropsychiatric Adverse Events.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2021Pooled it
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Patterns of e-Cigarette Use and Smoking Cessation Outcomes: Secondary Analysis of a Large Randomised Controlled Trial to Inform Clinical Advice.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Trial
- Continuing use of e-cigarettes after stopping smoking and relapse: Secondary analysis of a large randomised controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of e-cigarettes compared with nicotine replacement therapy in stop smoking services in England (TEC study): a randomized controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2020Trial
- Early insights from a national scheme providing vaping devices for smoking cessation: A preliminary evaluation to inform future return-on-investment modelling in England.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- E-Cigarette Use and Depression Among American Indian Adults Who Smoke.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Assessment of the prevalence, knowledge, and perceptions of e-cigarette use among the Palestinian community: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Beliefs and intention to use e-cigarettes among university students in Dhaka city of Bangladesh: a qualitative exploration.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Tobacco Smoking or Nicotine Phenotype and Severity of Clinical Presentation at the Emergency Department (SMOPHED): Protocol for a Noninterventional Observational Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimTo evaluate the cost-effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid used in routine stop smoking services in England.
designCost-effectiveness analysis was performed from the National Health Service (NHS) and Personal Social Services (PSS) perspective for 12-month periods and life-time. Costs, including that of both treatments, other smoking cessation help and health-care services, and health benefits, estimated from EQ-5D-5L and measured in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), for the 12-month analysis, came from a randomized controlled trial. Life-time analysis was model-based with input from both trial data and published secondary data sources. Cost-effectiveness was measured by an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER).
settingThree stop-smoking service sites in England.
participantsAdult smokers (n = 886) who sought help to quit in the participating sites. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: An e-cigarette (EC) starter kit versus provision of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for up to 3 months, both with standard behavioural support. A total of 886 participants were randomized (439 in the EC arm, 447 in the NRT arm). Excluding one death in each arm, the 1-year quit rate was 18.0 and 9.9%, respectively. MEASUREMENTS: Cost of treatments was estimated from the treatment log. Costs of other smoking cessation help and health-care services and EQ-5D-5 L were collected at baseline, 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Incremental costs and incremental QALYs were estimated using regression adjusting for baseline covariates and their respective baseline values.
findingsThe ICER was £1100 per QALY gained at the 12 months after quit date (87% probability below £20 000/QALY). Markov model estimated the life-time ICER of EC to be £65 per QALY (85% probability below £20 000/QALY).
conclusionUsing e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid with standard behavioural support in stop-smoking services in England is likely to be more cost-effective than using nicotine replacement therapy in the same setting.
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.