Factors Associated With Successful E-Cigarette Cessation Among a Convenience Sample of Adult Users

Abstract

Background: A growing body of literature suggests that many people who use e-cigarettes become dependent and have difficulty quitting. Most people who use e-cigarettes have interest in quitting, yet there is currently a lack of evidence to inform interventions for e-cigarette cessation. Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with successful e-cigarette quit attempts among a large sample of people who use e-cigarettes. Methods: Participants (n=586) were people who use e-cigarettes who reported at least one lifetime attempt to quit their e-cigarette use. Adjusted logistic regression models were performed to examine differences in e-cigarette use characteristics and quit methods between people who currently use e-cigarettes and who quit e-cigarettes. Results: Most participants were people who currently use e-cigarettes and only 27.5% reported successfully quitting. Most participants (90.6%) used e-cigarettes that contained nicotine, and over half (54.0%) used closed-system e-cigarette devices with replaceable pre-filled pods or cartridges. The quit method most commonly used overall (63.1%) and for people who quit e-cigarettes (70.8%) was cold turkey. Past 30-day cigarette use and past 30-day other tobacco use was significantly associated with reduced odds of quitting, and there were no e-cigarette characteristics significantly associated with successful cessation. Nicotine replacement therapy was the only e-cigarette cessation method that was significantly associated with increased odds of quitting after adjusting for past 30-day cigarette and other tobacco use. Conclusions: These results suggests that cigarette use, other tobacco use, and quit method used may significantly influence the likelihood of e-cigarette cessation. Future research is needed to determine the effectiveness of interventions for e-cigarette cessation using nicotine replacement therapy.

Keywords:

• E-cigarettes
• vaping
• cessation
• smoking

Acknowledgements

The authors have no acknowledgements to report.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on requrest from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported in part by a Stephenson Cancer Center Pilot Grant funded by the National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA225520 awarded to the University of Oklahoma Stephenson Cancer Center. Manuscript preparation was additionally supported through the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R00DA046564 (to E.T.H.), by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute under award number K01HL148907 (to A.P.T.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. J.S.A. funded, in part, by P20GM130414, a NIH funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). J.S.A. received sponsored funds for travel expenses as a speaker for the 2021 and 2022 annual GTNF conference. J.S.A. serves as a consultant and has equity in Qnovia, a startup company developing a prescription nicotine replacement product for FDA approval. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.