Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash
Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash

Six months after 'vape to quit' programme, almost half of participants smokefree

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

Observational study: A study in which the subject is observed to see if there is a relationship between two or more things (eg: the consumption of diet drinks and obesity). Observational studies cannot prove that one thing causes another, only that they are linked.

Survey: A study based solely on people’s responses to a series of questions.

People: This is a study based on research using people.

E-cigarettes are increasingly popular as aids to stop smoking, according to new research that looked at over 1000 participants in Canterbury's Te Hā – Waitaha smoking cessation service. The products used to quit smoking varied by ethnicity, with Māori having the lowest percentage using e-cigarettes, and the highest percentage using nicotine sprays. Researchers held follow-up phone interviews with 100 participants who had chosen the "vape to quit" strategy, and found that after six months 16% were smoke and vapefree, 31% were smokefree and vaping, 31% were smoking and not vaping, and 22% were smoking and vaping.

Journal/conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Auckland, University of Otago, Canterbury District Health Board

Funder: This work was supported by Pegasus Health Charitable Limited and a Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden grant.

Media release

From: Pasifika Medical Association Group

We compared the use of smoking cessation aids across different ethnic groups and age groups within a large
New Zealand cohort and assessed the uptake and effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation via a
'vape to quit' initiative. The final dataset analysed including 1,118 participants; 66.6% NZ European, 28.1%
Māori, 3.1% Pacific, 2.2% Asian. The use of vaping products, predominantly nicotine-containing products, to
support smoking cessation has increased rapidly over time. We followed up 100 participants who had used
vaping to quit smoking and found that after six months 16% were smoke and vapefree, 31% were smokefree
and vaping, 31% were smoking and not vaping, and 22% were smoking and vaping. Nicotine containing e-
cigarettes are showing potential in smoking cessation programmes in support of the Smokefree Aotearoa
2025; however, 22% of those in the 'vape to quit' programme became dual users.

News for:

New Zealand

Media contact details for this story are only visible to registered journalists.