Parents using both e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes are more motivated to quit

Parents who smoke both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes may be more open to quitting smoking as compared to parents who only smoke traditional cigarettes, a study has revealed.

"Our findings suggest that smoking parents who start using e-cigarettes may have done so out of a desire to quit smoking," said Emara Nabi-Burza, lead author of the study published in Academic Pediatrics.

"However, many of them end up becoming dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, maintaining their addiction to nicotine and also exposing their children to e-cigarette aerosols, which contain hazardous substances," Nabi-Burza added.

Jonathan Winickoff, senior author of the Academic Pediatrics said, "While e-cigarettes emit numerous toxins in addition to nicotine and still pose health risks, nicotine replacement therapy in the form of gum, lozenges or patches has proven effectiveness in supporting smoking cessation and eliminating nicotine exposure to infants and children."

The current study is an outgrowth of the CEASE (Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure) programme, which trains pediatric office staff members to ask the parents of patients whether anyone uses tobacco products in their homes or cars and to provide assistance to help those who smoke to quit.

Among a group of more than 700 parents who reported currently using cigarettes, 11 per cent reported also using e-cigarettes, making them dual users of both products. Of 115 parents who reported using e-cigarettes, 70 per cent were still smoking traditional cigarettes.

Compared with parents who reported smoking traditional cigarettes only, dual users were more likely: to have a child less than 1 year old at home, to plan to quit smoking in the next six months, to have attempted to quit smoking in the past three months, and to have used nicotine replacement or called a smoking quitline in the past two years.

While around 18 per cent of cigarette-only users and 26 per cent of dual users reported having been asked about their smoking status at the current office visit, discussions about FDA-approved medications to help them quit were reported by only 2 per cent of the cigarette-only users and none of the dual users.

Studies have shown that significant percentages of the United States adults either don't know whether e-cigarette aerosols are harmful to children or believe they cause some or little harm, and the National Academies report also noted that there is 'conclusive evidence' that e-cigarette use increases airborne concentrations of nicotine and particulate matter in indoor environments, compared with background levels.