Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use continues to increase rapidly with more smokers and non-smokers beginning to try to them. The potential impact of trying e-cigarettes is not well understood, but there are concerns that they may decrease smokers' motivation to quit smoking or be used as a bridge product for current smokers when they are in situations where smoking is prohibited. Using a sample of current smokers, uninterested in quitting, a pilot clinical laboratory trial was conducted investigating the impact of e-cigarette experimentation and short-term use on smokers' motivation and confidence to quit, withdrawal symptoms, and smoking behavior. The findings suggest that for current smokers, e-cigarette experimentation increased motivation and confidence to quit smoking (p<.05) and these continued to increase with continued short-term use. E-cigarettes were effective in managing smoking cravings and urges and were effective in helping smokers reduce their number of cigarettes smoked per day (44% reduction).

Citation Format: Theodore L. Wagener. Does it hurt to try? Effects of e-cigarette sampling on smoking behavior and motivation to quit. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr SS02-02.

©2013 American Association for Cancer Research.
2013