title: Electronic cigarettes as a smoking-cessation: tool results from an online survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine without any combustion or smoke. These devices have generated much publicity among the smoking-cessation community and support from dedicated users; however, little is known about the efficacy of the device as a smoking-cessation tool.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation using a survey of smokers who had tried e-cigarettes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using as a sampling frame a cohort of all first-time purchasers of a particular brand of e-cigarettes during a 2-week period, a cross-sectional, online survey was conducted in 2010 to describe e-cigarette use patterns and their effectiveness as a smoking-cessation tool. There were 222 respondents, with a survey response rate of 4.5%. The primary outcome variable was the point prevalence of smoking abstinence at 6 months after initial e-cigarette purchase.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The primary finding was that the 6-month point prevalence of smoking abstinence among the e-cigarette users in the sample was 31.0% (95% CI=24.8%, 37.2%). A large percentage of respondents reported a reduction in the number of cigarettes they smoked (66.8%) and almost half reported abstinence from smoking for a period of time (48.8%). Those respondents using e-cigarettes more than 20 times per day had a quit rate of 70.0%. Of respondents who were not smoking at 6 months, 34.3% were not using e-cigarettes or any nicotine-containing products at the time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that e-cigarettes may hold promise as a smoking-cessation method and that they are worthy of further study using more-rigorous research designs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. mbsiegel@bu.edu
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: Kerry L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Tanwar
authors.forename: Kathleen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015995:Prevalence; D012008:Recurrence; D012907:Smoking; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine