New study highlights role of e-cigarettes in helping recent smoking quitters

A new study has shed light on the role played by e-cigarettes in helping people who have recently quit smoking to kick the habit.

The research, from the Rutgers School of Public Health and the Steven A Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative, looked at data from US adults and found evidence that many quitters have done so with the assistance of e-cigarettes.

Data on 36,697 adults from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey was assessed, revealing that 12.6 percent had tried e-cigarettes, rising to 49 percent of daily cigarette smokers. 

The highest prevalence of daily e-cigarette use was among current smokers and former smokers who quit within the past year, with recent quitters four times more likely to be daily users of e-cigarettes than current cigarette smokers.

E-cigarette use was also found to be more common among adults over age 25 than those aged 18-24, while e-cigarette experimentation was extremely low for adults who never smoked cigarettes or who quit more than four years ago.

Cristine Delnevo, the study's lead author, said: "This study is in line with other recent evidence that regular, daily e-cigarette use may help some smokers quit cigarettes."