Nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and varenicline both helped over 40% of study participants achieve smoking abstinence at 6 months, significantly outperforming placebo, with no serious adverse events reported.
The randomized, placebo-controlled trial, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, included 458 adults aged 25 to 75 years with moderate to heavy nicotine dependence and motivated to quit smoking.
Participants were randomized into three groups: Electronic cigarettes (ECs) with placebo tablets (152 patients), varenicline with nicotine-free ECs (153 patients), and placebo tablets with nicotine-free ECs (153 patients). All received a motivation interview.
The main measure was the participants' self-reported smoking abstinence over 7 days at the 26-week mark and verified by exhaled carbon monoxide tests. Outcomes were achieved in 40.4% of the EC group, 43.8% of the varenicline group, and 19.7% of the placebo group.
Results indicated that the placebo group differed from both the EC group (rand the varenicline group, but the difference between ECs and varenicline was not statistically significant. No significant adverse events were observed.
Full disclosures can be found in the original study.