Nearly all local authority stop-smoking services responding to a recent survey said they provide vaping products to support smoking cessation, with vape-supported programmes reporting higher quit rates than other forms of support.
The research, published in the journal Cureus, analysed responses from 28 local authorities across the UK obtained through Freedom of Information requests. It found that 96.4 per cent of participating stop-smoking services provide vaping products to support smokers trying to quit, while nearly three-quarters use products supplied through the government's Swap to Stop scheme.
Researchers found that average quit rates among services reporting data for both approaches were 61.5 per cent for vape-supported programmes, compared with 56.2 per cent for other forms of support such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and behavioural interventions. The difference was statistically significant.
The study was conducted by researchers from whatIF? Consulting, JBP Associates, the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) and HAYPP Group.
Open-system devices, such as refillable pod and tank systems, were the most commonly supplied products, provided by more than 85 per cent of services. No participating stop-smoking service reported supplying disposable vapes.
Flavoured products were found to play a central role in cessation support. Every service that provided vaping products offered flavoured options, with fruit, mint/menthol and tobacco flavours the most widely available. Fruit flavours were offered by all participating services and were identified as the most popular option by almost 79 per cent of providers that supplied preference data.
Among services using the government's Swap to Stop programme, all reported receiving flavoured vaping products, with fruit flavours available across the board and mint/menthol and tobacco flavours also widely supplied.
The authors said the findings provide real-world evidence supporting the role of vaping products in smoking cessation and suggest flavoured products remain an important tool for helping adult smokers switch away from cigarettes.
“While the impact of specific flavours could not be directly assessed, the widespread reporting of preference for or provision of flavoured vaping products (approximately 84 per cent of services) suggests that they are an important component of cessation support,” the authors wrote.
“In contrast, tobacco‑flavoured vaping products were only reported as the most popular/frequently provided by approximately 16 per cent of service providers.”
However, they cautioned that the research has limitations, including a relatively small sample size and variations in how local authorities collect and report quit-rate data. They called for more standardised data collection and further longitudinal research to better assess the effectiveness of vaping products in stop-smoking services.