Interventions for quitting vaping

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Addiction Medicine
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Limited guidance exists for quitting nicotine vaping, with risks of relapse to smoking and unintended consequences.
• Interventions for vaping cessation could include pharmacological or behavioral approaches, or a combination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a living systematic review of interventions for nicotine vaping cessation.
• To assess benefits and harms of interventions, including impact on combustible tobacco use.
• To examine if intervention effects vary by participant characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to April 2024.
• Searched multiple databases (CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO) and clinical trial registries.
• Assessed risk of bias using Cochrane RoB 1 tool and certainty of evidence using GRADE.

Main Results:

• Varenicline showed low-certainty evidence of increased vaping cessation (RR 2.00).
• Text message interventions demonstrated low-certainty evidence of increased cessation in youth/young adults (RR 1.32).
• Evidence for combination NRT and cytisine was inconclusive; no studies reported on combustible tobacco use changes.

Conclusions:

• Text message interventions and varenicline show potential for aiding nicotine vaping cessation, particularly in younger populations.
• Effectiveness of other interventions like NRT and cytisine requires further investigation.
• Crucially, future research must evaluate the impact of vaping cessation interventions on combustible tobacco use.