Could E-Cigarettes Foil Smoking Cessation Efforts After Hospital Discharge?

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

Hospitalized adults who want to quit smoking after discharge might be less likely to succeed if they use electronic cigarettes after discharge, suggests a secondary analysis in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

In the main study, nearly 1400 adult smokers who planned to quit after hospital discharge were assigned to an intervention that included free smoking cessation medication or a control group. (E-cigarettes were not recommended in either group.) Now, in this secondary analysis, roughly 240 participants who reported any e-cigarette use during the first 3 months post-discharge were matched to 240 who didn't vape. E-cigarette use was largely intermittent.

The primary outcome — biochemically confirmed smoking abstinence at 6 months — was lower in e-cigarette users than nonusers (10% vs. 27%). This difference was larger among patients who'd received free smoking cessation medications (8% vs. 30%).

The researchers write, "The use of e-cigarettes intermittently and concurrently with other cessation aids did not seem to aid quitting and may have hampered it. The possibility remains that e-cigarettes can promote tobacco cessation if they are used regularly and as a complete replacement for cigarettes."