Cox, Sharon and Dawkins, Lynne and Doshi, Jay and Cameron, James (2019) Effects of e-cigarettes versus nicotine replacement therapy on short-term smoking abstinence when delivered at a community pharmacy. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 10, (100202), p. 100202.
External website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC66260...
E-cigarettes (EC) are now the most popular quit aid in England but their effectiveness for cessation if offered at a pharmacy has not been tested. Here we test the effectiveness of offering an e-cigarette with and without nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on 4-6-week quit rates in adult smokers seeking support from a community pharmacy. A between subject, six-week, prospective, cohort design. 115 smokers (female = 74; age = 46.37, = 13.56) chose either an EC, EC + NRT or NRT alone, alongside standard behavioural support. Smokers opting for an EC alone or an EC + NRT were more likely to report complete abstinence from smoking at 4-6 weeks (62.2% and 61.5% respectively) compared to NRT alone (34.8%). An EC intervention was significantly more effective for smoking cessation than NRT in this community pharmacy. The results for e-cigarettes appear positive but with the caveat that participants chose their own products which may have introduced bias.
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