RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Advice given to patients regarding electronic cigarettes by health care professionals
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P1052
VO 42
IS Suppl 57
A1 Gareth Jones
A1 Laura Hughes
A1 Ash Boodhun
A1 Lisa Davies
YR 2013
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P1052.abstract
AB Safety concerns have led a number of medical bodies - including the European Respiratory Society (ERS) - to issue statements discouraging the use of electronic cigarettes (eCigs). Despite such increasingly widespread advice, little is known about the opinions of health care professionals (HCPs) towards eCigs. We undertook a survey to determine what advice HCPs offer patients enquiring about eCigs.Of the 139 doctors, nurses & smoking cessation advisors surveyed, the majority (n=99) were aware their patients used eCigs & 57 had been directly questioned about their use. Overall 41% would offer a somewhat/very supportive opinion with only 9% actively discouraging their use. Although most HCPs would direct patients to traditional smoking cessation services (n=108), the majority felt that eCigs were both safer than smoking & a useful adjunct to smoking cessation.Our survey reveals three times as many HCPs encourage patients to continue using eCigs than recommend stopping them. Significantly only 16% of respondents felt confident in the advice they could offer about eCigs.We encourage all those involved with smoking cessation to only advocate techniques that use properly regulated products with an established evidence base & also to review consensus statements on the use of eCigs, such as that from the ERS¹¹ http://www.ersnet.org/news/item/4494-european-respiratory-society-statement-one-cigarettes-and-emerging-products-.html