Research shows free vapes in emergency rooms aid smoking cessation

University of East AngliaSep 11 2024

Experimenting with commercially available vapes may be important for some people's success in giving up smoking, according to new research. 

The University of East Anglia led a study which found that giving out free e-cigarette starter packs in hospital emergency departments to people who smoke helped one in four people quit. 

The trial, which was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and run by UEA's Norwich Clinical Trials Unit, took place across six UK hospitals, and this latest research delves into the different ways people transitioned from smoking to vaping after receiving the e-cigarette smoking cessation intervention. 

More than half of participants the research team managed to contact 6 months after their visit to the emergency department had quit or reduced smoking and a third of those who quit smoking were also not vaping.

There is a school of thought that vapes should only be available on prescription. 

However, our findings suggest that over a third of quitters, who were given a vape to help them quit by a healthcare professional, went on to experiment with different devices bought from shops or online. 

Some people managed to quit smoking soon after being given the vape, while others used both cigarettes and vapes for a period, taking longer than a month to quit. 

Satisfaction with vaping was important for success with quitting smoking, but personal motivation and being in a supportive environment were also significant factors." 

Dr. Emma Ward, Lead Author from UEA's Norwich Medical School

A total of 1,010 adult daily smokers were involved in the trial, with 505 receiving the free vapes in A&E. 

Only intervention participants who responded at six months follow-up were included in the analysis for this latest study, resulting in a survey sample of 366 participants. 

A total of 24 participants took part in interviews as part of the trial evaluation and were selected to represent the demographics of the main study sample. 

The authors say the research highlights the effectiveness of opportunistic e-cigarette interventions, demonstrating multiple quitting pathways, showing that different people benefit in various ways. 

Dr Ward added: "Some people quit smoking following the intervention without long-term e-cigarette use, while others benefited from longer-term use to avoid smoking relapse. 

"Those less experienced with vaping may be particularly receptive to receiving opportunistic support in a medical setting." 

The findings support previous research conducted by Dr Ward, which showed that accessing vapes via the NHS might not be appealing to everyone, because some people do not see e-cigarettes as treatments but more as consumer products that they can shop for themselves. 

'How do people quit smoking using e-cigarettes? A mixed-methods exploration of participant smoking pathways following receiving an opportunistic e-cigarette based smoking cessation intervention' is published in the journal Addiction. 

As the research was only a trial, people who smoke are reminded that A&E departments are not currently handing out free vapes. 

Help to stop smoking is available at https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/