Living evidence on e-cigarettes: Cochrane reviews

Since coming on the market electronic cigarettes or vapes have caused a considerable stir in the public health community. It is of prime importance that the debate around this issue is based on high quality, relevant and up to date scientific data.

We want to be able to include all the evidence as it becomes available to ensure that the findings are as comprehensive as possible. With support from Cancer Research UK, we are searching monthly for new evidence for our Cochrane reviews of i) electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation and ii) interventions for quitting vaping. This is a “living systematic review” approach and we update our reviews when new evidence changes, strengthens, or weakens existing conclusions, or relates to new comparisons or outcomes. Cochrane systematic reviews are recognised as the highest standard in evidence-based healthcare, bringing together primary research data to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions. 

Since the first publication of the e-cigarette for smoking cessation review in 2014 it has contributed to national and international guidelines. We anticipate that the new review of interventions for quitting vaping will also inform policy decisions, clinical practice, and the choices of people who smoke and/or vape. There is a huge amount of misinformation circulating about electronic cigarettes, and we are actively involved in sharing the evidence with diverse audiences. For our key findings see the latest version of the two living reviews or our briefing documents, links above.

We have carried out a series of companion projects on biomarkers, flavours and longer-term use of e-cigarettes, see our plain language briefing and joint briefing with ASH.

Our work has informed numerous national and international healthcare guidelines. Click here for examples.