March 2022 with Dr Ailsa Butler

Assistant Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Dr Nicola Lindson talk with Dr Ailsa Butler from the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, University of Oxford and co-author of the Cochrane review of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. They discuss the findings of their recent work on the longer term use of e-cigarettes when provided as a tool to stop smoking. In the studies eligible for the review, just over half of people given nicotine e-cigarettes at study start were found to be still using e-cigarettes at six or more months follow up. Of successful quitters, 70% were found to still be using e-cigarettes at six months or more. The longer-term use of nicotine e-cigarettes may reflect their success as a quit smoking aid by preventing relapse to smoking. A key question about long-term e-cigarette use in people who have quit combustible cigarettes is whether it prevents or facilitates relapse or has no effect on relapse. This work was funded by Cancer Research UK and Oxford University's Public Policy Challenge Grant. Jamie and Nicola also bring us up to date with the literature search conducted on March 1st 2022. The search found 1 record linked to a study already identified as ongoing. We will include the studies we have found in future updates of the Cochrane review.