Safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes versus nicotine patches when used to help pregnant smokers quit. A randomised controlled trial

Citation

Hajek P, Przulj D, Pesola F, Griffiths C, Walton R, McRobbie H, Coleman T, Lewis S, Whitemore R, Clark M, Ussher M, Sinclair L, Seager E, Cooper S, Bauld L, Naughton F, Saseni P, Manyonda I & Myers Smith K (2022) Safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes versus nicotine patches when used to help pregnant smokers quit. A randomised controlled trial. Nature Medicine.

Abstract
Nicotine replacement therapy is commonly offered to pregnant women who smoke to help them quit, but it has limited efficacy in this group. E-cigarettes are also used by pregnant smokers, but their safety and efficacy in pregnancy are unknown. Here we report the results of comparing nicotine patches with refillable e-cigarettes in a randomised controlled trial involving 1,140 participants. In the unadjusted primary analysis, validated prolonged quit rates at the end of pregnancy in the two study arms were not significantly different, but some abstainers in the patch arm used e-cigarettes. In a pre-specified sensitivity analysis excluding abstainers using non-allocated products, e-cigarettes were markedly more effective than patches.Low birthweight (

Notes
Output Status: Forthcoming

Journal
Nature Medicine

People

Professor Michael Ussher

Professor of Behavioural Medicine, Institute for Social Marketing