Media release

From: Springer Nature

Health: Higher e-cigarette uptake in English ex-smokers

E-cigarette use has substantially increased amongst adult ex-smokers in England over the past decade, reports a paper published BMC Medicine. The study, based on a survey of over 50,000 adults, observes a particularly pronounced increase in vaping prevalence among younger ex-smokers, particularly 18 to 25-year-olds.

E-cigarettes have become a common quitting method for smokers: in 2011, fewer than 1 in 100 quit attempts in England involved e-cigarettes. By 2014, this figure had risen to more than 1 in 4. The introduction of disposable e-cigarettes in 2021 correlates with a substantial rise in vaping in England across all smoking demographics.

Sarah Jackson and colleagues analysed data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, a cross-sectional survey of adults in England that polls approximately 1,700 newly selected individuals each month. This study focused on data from 54,251 ex-smokers surveyed between October 2013 and May 2024. It assessed the use of e-cigarettes in quit attempts among smokers who had tried to stop smoking at least once in the past year and current e-cigarette use among ex-smokers. The average age across the whole cohort was 49.2 years old, with 46.9% identifying as female. The percentage of people using e-cigarettes to try to quit smoking increased from 26.9% in 2013 to 41.4% in 2024, while the percentage of participants who had recently stopped smoking who vaped increased from 1.9% to 20.4%.

The proportion of vapers amongst ex-smokers who had quit more than a year ago was higher among younger participants, at 58.9% in 18-year-olds versus 10.7% among 65-year-olds. As the data does not capture e-cigarette users who have never smoked, the actual trend of vaping uptake in 18 to 25-year-olds may be higher. Vaping was also more common among ex-smokers who reported higher alcohol intakes, while there were no significant differences in vaping by gender.

The results demonstrate a significant spike in e-cigarette uptake among English ex-smokers, particularly following the introduction of disposable vapes in 2021. The authors add that more research is needed into how smoking relapse rates are changing in the context of vaping prevalence.