title: Electronic Cigarette Use and Smoking Abstinence in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study of Quitting Methods.
abstract: The benefit of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in smoking cessation remains controversial. Recently, e-cigarettes have been gaining popularity in Japan, without evidence of efficacy on quitting cigarettes. We conducted an online survey to collect information on tobacco use, difficulties in smoking cessation, socio-demographic factors, and health-related factors in Japan. Among the total participants (n = 9055), 798 eligible persons aged 20-69 years who smoked within the previous five years were analyzed to assess the relationship between the outcome of smoking cessation and quitting methods used, including e-cigarettes, smoking cessation therapy, and unassisted. E-cigarette use was negatively associated with smoking cessation (odds ratio (OR) = 0.632; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.414-0.964) after adjusting for gender, age, health-related factors, and other quitting methods. Conversely, smoking cessation therapy (i.e., varenicline) was significantly associated with smoking cessation (OR = 1.885; 95% CI = 1.018-3.492) in the same model. For effective smoking cessation, e-cigarette use appears to have low efficacy among smokers in Japan. Allowing for the fact that this study is limited by its cross-sectional design, follow-up studies are needed to assess the prospective association between e-cigarette use and smoking cessation.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Control and Information Services/Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. tohirano@ncc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Tomoyasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Control and Statistics, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka 537-8511, Japan. tabuchitak@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Center Hospital, National Cancer Center, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. rinakaha@ncc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama 351-0197, Japan. kunugita@niph.go.jp.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunugita
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Control and Information Services/Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. ymochizu@ncc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mochizuki-Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000628:therapy*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: electronic cigarettes; quitting methods; smoking cessation; smoking cessation therapy