Ottawa’s smoking cessation experts turn their attention to helping people quit vaping

Dr. Hassan Mir a cardiologist, researcher, and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He is the Chair of the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation. Photo by Photo courtesty of the uOttawa HArticle content

More than 20 years after it developed a model for smoking cessation that is used internationally, experts at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute are turning their attention to helping people quit e-cigarettes.

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Researchers at the Heart Institute have just published a review of existing research that they say will help guide vaping cessation programs during a time of growing demand.

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Vaping is not as prevalent as cigarette smoking among the general population in Canada, said Dr. Hassan Mir, cardiologist and program chair of the Heart Institute’s Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation. But vaping rates are significantly higher among youth and young adults — close to one in three according to some research — and, while smoking rates have been declining in recent decades, the vaping rates are rising.

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Vaping does not involve the combustion of tobacco and its extensive related harms, as smoking does. Because of that e-cigarettes have sometimes been promoted as a harm-reduction tool to help people quit cigarettes. Officials with the Heart Institute have cautioned that there are cardiovascular and respiratory harms associated with e-cigarettes and more research is needed to fully understand potential long-term harms.

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Among concerns about vaping is that youth and young adults who vape are more likely to go on to smoke cigarettes, said Mir. E-cigarettes can also deliver higher levels of nicotine than tobacco smoking — for some, the equivalent nicotine to 100 cigarettes a day — which makes it difficult for many people to quit.

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“The reality is, there are many people who are getting addicted to nicotine,” Mir said.

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The just-published research offers hope to people wanting to quit vaping, he said.

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The review and meta-analysis of existing studies found that cessation interventions, including the use of medication, can significantly increase the likelihood of people quitting vaping. The research was published this month in the international journal Tobacco Control.

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“This research has the potential to change the way we approach vaping cessation,” Mir said. “Many who vape want to quit, but are unable to due to their dependence on nicotine. If we can refine and expand nicotine dependence programs, they could become a key tool in reducing the harms associated with e-cigarettes.”

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The study found that people who used vaping cessation interventions were more than 50 per cent more likely to quit than those who did not. Use of educational interventions increased success rates by 60 per cent and the use of medications that target nicotine dependence increased quitting success rates by 140 per cent.