THURSDAY, May 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly two-thirds of American adults who use electronic cigarettes want to quit using the devices, a new study finds.
About 10 million adults use e-cigarettes, but this examination of data from a representative sample of those users found that more than 60% said they want to quit using the devices, and 16% said they planned to quit in the next month.
More than 25% said they'd tried to quit using e-cigarettes in the past year, according to the Rutgers University study. It was published May 21 in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Most U.S. adults who use e-cigarettes also smoke traditional cigarettes, and many use e-cigarettes to try to quit traditional cigarettes.
"Most of the discussion about e-cigarettes has focused on the relative harm as compared to traditional cigarettes, the efficacy of e-cigarettes as a cessation device, and the alarming increase of their use in children," said study co-author Marc Steinberg, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Tobacco Research and Intervention Lab.
"In addition to those issues, our data suggests that e-cigarette users do not want to use these devices forever. Eventually, they want to stop using e-cigarettes the same way a traditional smoker wants to quit smoking cigarettes," Steinberg added in a school news release.
"The strategies that people reported using to quit e-cigarettes include many of the strategies we recommend for quitting traditional cigarettes, such as FDA-approved nicotine replacement products or medications, counseling, and social support," said study author Rachel Rosen, a graduate student in the department of psychology.
"While e-cigarettes may be associated with reduced harm as compared to combustible cigarettes, they also are potentially addicting and the e-cigarette aerosol still contains toxic substances," Rosen said.
"As e-cigarette use continues to increase and as more e-cigarette users want to quit, it will be important to be ready to help those who may have difficulty stopping on their own," she concluded.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about e-cigarettes.
