Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been steadily increasing in popularity among smokers, most of whom report using them to quit smoking. This study systematically reviews the current literature on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as cessation aids. ⋯ This is the most comprehensive systematic evidence review to examine the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking cessation among smokers. This review offers balanced and rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses of published evidence on the effectiveness of e-cigarette use for smoking abstinence and reduction as well as important outcomes such as withdrawal symptoms and craving to smoke. While inconclusive due to low quality, overall the existing literature suggests e-cigarettes may be helpful for some smokers for quitting or reducing smoking. However, more carefully designed and scientifically sound studies are urgently needed to establish unequivocally the long-term cessation effects of e-cigarettes and to better understand of how and when e-cigarettes may be helpful.
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been steadily increasing in popularity among smokers, most of whom report using them to quit smoking. This study systematically reviews the current literature on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as cessation aids. ⋯ This is the most comprehensive systematic evidence review to examine the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking cessation among smokers. This review offers balanced and rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses of published evidence on the effectiveness of e-cigarette use for smoking abstinence and reduction as well as important outcomes such as withdrawal symptoms and craving to smoke. While inconclusive due to low quality, overall the existing literature suggests e-cigarettes may be helpful for some smokers for quitting or reducing smoking. However, more carefully designed and scientifically sound studies are urgently needed to establish unequivocally the long-term cessation effects of e-cigarettes and to better understand of how and when e-cigarettes may be helpful.
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The popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among adolescents is growing worldwide. A more accurate model than the much discussed but inadequate Gateway Hypothesis is needed to explain some adolescents' initial preference for e-cigarettes over tobacco cigarettes, as well as any transition from e-cigarettes to tobacco smoking. Our aim was to summarize the diffuse fear that adolescents will be indirectly encouraged to begin smoking tobacco via the use of e-cigarettes and to systematize the disparate causal hypotheses used thus far in relevant literature. ⋯ We developed a model that provides causal hypotheses for the initiation of e-cigarette use and for the potential transition to tobacco smoking.
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The disproportionate burden of tobacco use among African Americans is largely unexplained. The unexplained disparities, referred to as the African American smoking paradox, includes several phenomena. Despite their social disadvantage, African American youth have lower smoking prevalence rates, initiate smoking at older ages, and during adulthood, smoking rates are comparable to whites. Smoking frequency and intensity among African American youth and adults are lower compared to whites and American Indian and Alaska Natives, but tobacco-caused morbidity and mortality rates are disproportionately higher. Disease prediction models have not explained disease causal pathways in African Americans. It has been hypothesized that menthol cigarette smoking, which is disproportionately high among African Americans, may help to explain several components of the African American smoking paradox. ⋯ Our study highlights four counterintuitive observations related to the smoking risk profiles and chronic disease outcomes among African Americans. The extant literature provides strong evidence of their existence and shows that long-standing paradoxes have been largely unaffected by changes in the social environment. African Americans smoke menthols disproportionately, and menthol's role in the African American smoking paradox has not been thoroughly explored. We propose discrete hypotheses that will help to explain the phenomena and encourage researchers to empirically test menthol's role in smoking initiation, transitions to regular smoking and chronic disease outcomes in African Americans.
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Despite progress in limiting exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in the United States, little is known about the impact of smoke-free polices in prisons and jails. SHS exposure in this setting may be great, as smoking prevalence among inmates is more than three times higher than among non-incarcerated adults. To inform the implementation of smoke-free policies, this article reviews the literature on the extent, nature, and impact of smoke-free policies in U.S. prisons and jails. ⋯ Smoke-free policies have become increasingly common in prisons and jails, but evidence suggests they are not consistently implemented. Future studies should examine the health and economic outcomes of smoke-free policies in prisons and jails. By implementing smoke-free policies, prisons and jails have an opportunity to improve the health of staff and inmates.