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Are long‐term vapers interested in vaping cessation support?

Most long‐term vapers in a 2017 European online survey had no intention of stopping – but a quarter to half of those who did intend to stop were interested in using vaping cessation support – according to a just-published article in Addiction, the journal of the Society for the Study of Addiction.

Author Jean‐François Etterof the Institute of Global Health in the faculty of medicine at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, says the study investigated whether long‐term vapers were interested in vaping cessation support.

Are long‐term vapers interested in vaping cessation support?

Addiction

Design, setting and participants

Online survey in 2017 of long‐term vapers (n=347), mainly in France, Switzerland, and Belgium, enrolled through e‐cigarette and smoking cessation websites.

Measurements

Opinions on potential vaping cessation services.

Findings

Participants had been vaping for 4 years on average (standard deviation 1 year), most were daily vapers (96%, n=333), former smokers (88%, n=303), vaped nicotine‐containing liquids (88%, n=305), reported being dependent on e‐cigarettes (89%, n=308), and had no intention to stop vaping (66%, n=229).

Few (10%, n=34) had already tried to stop vaping. Among those (n=118, 34% of 347) who intended to stop vaping, 27% (n=32) thought that a health professional could help them stop vaping, 33% (n=39) would visit a vaping cessation service if available in their neighborhood, 23% (n=27) would use nicotine medications to stop vaping, and if a vaping cessation website or smartphone app were available, 46% (n=54) would use them.

In open‐ended comments (n=94), participants reported that they did not see why they should stop vaping (n=37), in particular because vaping helped them quit smoking (n=17) and was less toxic than smoking (n=9), that smoking cessation aids had not worked for them and neither would similar aids help them stop vaping (n=6), and that they would stop vaping by gradually decreasing the nicotine content in their e‐liquids (n=12).

Conclusions

Most long‐term vapers in this 2017 European online survey had no intention of stopping vaping, but one quarter to one half of those who intended to stop were interested in using vaping cessation support.

[link url="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.14595"]Are long‐term vapers interested in vaping cessation support?[/link]

 

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