Recent research reveals nicotine e-cigarettes, alongside medications cytisine and varenicline, as the most effective smoking cessation aids. The study, encompassing over 300 clinical trials, provides crucial evidence for public health strategies.
Comprehensive global analysis from UMass Amherst researcher offers evidence to reshape public health policies.
Nicotine e-cigarettes and two prescription medications that curb symptoms of withdrawal are the most effective stop-smoking aids, according to a comprehensive, multinational review by a team of scientists, including a University of Massachusetts Amherst public health and health policy researcher.
Dual forms of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as combining a patch with gum or a lozenge, were found to be nearly as effective.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death worldwide, and many people who want to quit smoking find it very difficult, due to the addictive nature of nicotine. The new study’s findings offer strong evidence to help reshape public health policies and strategies, offering smokers more effective tools to quit for good.
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce recently started her new role as assistant professor of health policy and management in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at UMass Amherst. Credit: UMass Amherst
Research Insights and Methodology
“The best thing someone who smokes can do for their health is to quit smoking,” says Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, assistant professor of health policy and management in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences. “Our findings provide clear evidence of the effectiveness of nicotine e-cigarettes and combination nicotine replacement therapies to help people quit smoking. The evidence also is clear on the benefits of medicines cytisine and varenicline, but these may be harder for some people to access at the moment.”
Hartmann-Boyce is senior author of the paper published recently in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. She conducted the research at the World Health Organization essential medicine, and cytisine help reduce the symptoms of withdrawal. The brand-name form of varenicline – Champix – is not available in the U.S. and other parts of the world due to a manufacturing problem, though generic forms of varenicline have been approved by the FDA. Cytisine is not currently licensed or marketed in the U.S. and most other countries outside of Central and Eastern Europe.
Reference: “Pharmacological and electronic cigarette interventions for smoking cessation in adults: component network meta‐analyses” by Nicola Lindson, Annika Theodoulou, José M Ordóñez-Mena, Thomas R Fanshawe, Alex J Sutton, Jonathan Livingstone-Banks, Anisa Hajizadeh, Sufen Zhu, Paul Aveyard, Suzanne C Freeman, Sanjay Agrawal and Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, 12 September 2023, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD015226.pub2