The meta-analysis of electronic cigarettes on smoking cessation and adverse effect

Abstract

Objective The effect of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) on smoking reduction, cessation and human health remains controversial, meanwhile, studies focused on e-cigarettes are limited. We conducted this meta-analysis in purpose of helping figuring out the controversy. Methods PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane library, CNKI and Wanfang Databases were searched for articles published up to May 2014.All studies discussing the relationship between e-cigarettes and smoking reduction, smoking cessation or human health were included. The fixed or random-effect model was used to pool the relative risk(RR). Outcome 4 articles were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, there were totally 7 002 subjects. Meta-analysis indicated that there was significant difference in e-cigarettes and smoking reduction, RR=1.88, 95%CI: 1.07-3.32, P=0.09. The Meta-analysis showed that e-cigarettes were available in smoking cessation. RR=1.55, 95%CI: 1.24-1.95, P=0.001. Conclusion This meta-analysis indicated that e-cigarettes were helpful in smoking cessation. Nonetheless, the articles included were too few to credibly support the outcome. Hence, more high-quality, randomized blind and large sample experiments are needed to verify the results. Key words: Electronic cigarette; Smoking cessation; Adversity; Meta-analysis