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Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Comparing the Effects of Electronic Cigarette Vapor and Cigarette Smoke in a Novel In Vivo Exposure System
Published on: May 24, 2017
The efficacy and short-term effects of electronic cigarettes as a method for smoking cessation: a systematic review
S Khoudigian1, T Devji2, L Lytvyn2
1Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. khoudisv@mcmaster.ca.
Objectives:
E-cigarettes are increasingly popular as smoking cessation aids. This review assessed the efficacy of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation as well as desire to smoke, withdrawal symptoms, and adverse events in adult smokers.
Methods:
A systematic review was conducted. Studies comparing e-cigarettes to other nicotine replacement therapies or placebo were included. Data were pooled using meta-analysis.
Results:
Of 569 articles, 5 were eligible. Study participants were more likely to stop smoking when using nicotine e-cigarettes (43/489, 9 %) versus placebo e-cigarettes (8/173, 5 %); however, this difference was not statistically significant (RR 2.02; 95 % CI 0.97, 4.22). The pooled effect estimates for the desire to smoke (RR -0.22; 95 % CI -0.80, 0.36), irritability (RR -0.03; 95% CI -0.38, 0.31), restlessness (RR -0.03; 95 % CI -0.42, 0.35), poor concentration (RR -0.01; 95 % CI -0.35, 0.32), depression (RR -0.01; 95 % CI -0.22, 0.20), hunger (RR -0.01; 95 % CI -0.32, 0.30), and average number of non-serious adverse events (RR -0.09; 95 % CI -0.28, 0.46) were not statistically significantly different. Only one study reported serious adverse events with no apparent association with e-cigarette use.
Conclusions:
Limited low-quality evidence of a non-statistically significant trend toward smoking cessation in adults using nicotine e-cigarettes exists compared with other therapies or placebo. Larger, high-quality studies are needed to inform policy decisions.
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