Many people side with the notion that electronic cigarettes may reduce the risk of relapse to cigarette smoking. However, research suggests otherwise.
New research released in JAMA involved a sample of US adults as part of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study. More than 13,000 participants had been included.
“In this study using a nationally representative cohort, we did not find evidence that switching to e-cigarettes prevented relapse to cigarette smoking,” the JAMA report reads.
“We identified 9.4% of adults categorized as previous-year established smokers had become recent former smokers at follow-up 1.”
The authors of the study determined in their findings that the switching of e-cigarette use does not result in a reduced risk of relapse to cigarettes, nor does it help smokers curb their habit.
“This longitudinal follow-up cohort study of a large representative sample of US recent former smokers showed that switching to e-cigarettes (even on a daily basis) was not associated with helping smokers remain abstinent from cigarettes,” the study’s authors concluded.
“Indeed, the evidence suggested that switching to alternate tobacco products by recent former smokers may be associated with increased risk of a relapse to cigarette smoking.”
