RESEARCHERS in the US have reported that almost one-third of young adults aged 18-24 have used vapes in the last 12 months, and among those who have tried to quit, most were unsuccessful.
The team was investigating which vaping quit methods were used by young adults in order to inform treatment development, with social support from friends and family the most common method cited.
They looked at data from a nationally representative sample of over 10,000 young adults, among whom 31% said they had vaped in the previous year.
Of the vapers, 29% said they had tried to quit in that time period, but only 20% were successful.
Social support was the most common quit method reported (30%), followed by tobacco product substitution (11%), which included nicotine pouches and cigarettes.
"Of individuals who used cigarettes as a substitution method to quit electronic nicotine products (ENPs), all had a history of smoking," the authors noted.
Less common quit methods were behavioural support (10%), smartphone or tablet apps (9%), and nicotine replacement therapy (5%), such as gum and patches.
At around 2%, the least frequently used quit method was prescription medications such as varenicline, which has shown promise for helping youth quit (PD 24 Apr).
"More frequent use of social support by young adults suggests this may be an important component of future cessation treatment programs," wrote the authors in JAMA Network Open.
"There have been recent promising results supporting the use of a texting program and varenicline in ENP cessation, but our results suggest low uptake of these methods.
"Given the popularity of ENPs among YAs, there is a need for both evidence-based cessation treatments and improved implementation of effective treatments to help reduce ENP use," they concluded.
Read the research HERE. KB
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