Smoking cessation behaviours and attitudes among South African current combustible tobacco smokers who made a past quit attempt,* by e-cigarette use status,† 2018 (n=4309)
| Outcome | All current combustible smokers (n=4309) | E-cigarette never users (n=1732) | E-cigarette ever users (n=2577) | E-cigarette current users (n=1928) | Adjusted ORs (ever/never e-cigarette users) | Adjusted ORs (current/never e-cigarette users) |
| % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | PR (95% CI) | PR (95% CI) | |
| Past cessation aid use‡ | ||||||
| Cessation counselling, ever | 9.8 (8.4 to 11.1) | 6.3 (4.6 to 8.2) | 13.7 (11.3 to 15.9) | 11.8 (10.0 to 14.8) | 1.92 (1.55 to 2.37)* | 1.71 (1.36 to 2.15)* |
| NRT use, ever | 32.2 (29.9 to 35.2) | 26.0 (21.5 to 30.0) | 39.2 (36.3 to 42.2) | 37.5 (34.7 to 40.2) | 1.73 (1.50 to 1.99)* | 1.60 (1.38 to 1.85)* |
| Prescription medication use, ever | 20.5 (18.3 to 22.6) | 16.5 (13.8 to 20.0) | 25.0 (22.7 to 27.2) | 23.5 (20.9 to 26.2) | 1.55 (1.33 to 1.81)* | 1.47 (1.25 to 1.73)* |
| Any medication use, ever | 40.0 (37.3 to 42.5) | 33.4 (29.6 to 37.4) | 47.5 (44.4 to 50.2) | 45.1 (41.8 to 49.6) | 1.71 (1.49 to 1.96)* | 1.58 (1.37 to 1.83)* |
| Any cessation aid use, ever | 42.8 (40.0 to 45.9) | 35.9 (32.6 to 40.2) | 50.6 (47.9 to 54.2) | 48.5 (45.2 to 52.8) | 1.72 (1.50 to 1.97)* | 1.59 (1.38 to 1.84)* |
| Cessation counselling, current | 7.1 (5.9 to 8.6) | 4.5 (3.0 to 6.3) | 10.2 (8.4 to 13.0) | 9.8 (7.9 to 12.2) | 1.73 (1.36 to 2.21)* | 1.80 (1.39 to 2.33)* |
| NRT use,§ current | 22.5 (20.3 to 24.8) | 18.0 (15.3 to 20.4) | 27.5 (25.5 to 29.9) | 29.8 (26.6 to 32.9) | 1.65 (1.42 to 1.92)* | 1.90 (1.62 to 2.23)* |
| Prescription medication use, current | 12.4 (10.9 to 14.2) | 11.5 (8.8 to 15.0) | 13.4 (11.8 to 15.1) | 15.3 (13.3 to 17.4) | 1.21 (1.01 to 1.45)* | 1.47 (1.22 to 1.77)* |
| Any medication use,¶ current | 28.0 (24.9 to 30.8) | 23.7 (20.2 to 27.9) | 32.9 (30.6 to 36.0) | 35.4 (32.8 to 38.8) | 1.51 (1.32 to 1.74)* | 1.76 (1.52 to 2.05)* |
| Any cessation aid use,** current | 31.0 (28.9 to 33.5) | 25.5 (21.4 to 29.4) | 37.1 (33.5 to 41.1) | 39.6 (36.3 to 43.7) | 1.55 (1.35 to 1.79)* | 1.80 (1.55 to 2.09)* |
| Reasons for past quitting attempt | ||||||
| Doctor or pharmacist’s advice | 16.6 (14.6 to 18.6) | 16.4 (13.3 to 19.1) | 16.9 (14.9 to 19.1) | 15.9 (13.5 to 18.1) | 1.21 (1.02 to 1.44)* | 1.14 (0.94 to 1.37) |
| Family considerations | 38.9 (36.4 to 42.0) | 38.9 (35.4 to 44.3) | 39.0 (35.5 to 42.9) | 39.0 (33.6 to 43.0) | 1.11 (0.97 to 1.27) | 1.08 (0.93 to 1.24) |
| Health scare | 30.0 (27.7 to 32.7) | 32.4 (28.7 to 36.4) | 27.4 (24.2 to 30.3) | 25.6 (22.4 to 28.3) | 0.92 (0.80 to 1.07) | 0.91 (0.77 to 1.06) |
| Want to live a healthy lifestyle | 66.9 (64.2 to 69.8) | 66.0 (61.1 to 70.4) | 68.0 (64.1 to 71.9) | 68.1 (64.6 to 71.3) | 1.20 (1.05 to 1.37)* | 1.16 (1.01 to 1.34)* |
| Any health reason | 74.5 (71.6 to 77.2) | 74.7 (71.2 to 78.5) | 74.3 (71.8 to 76.9) | 73.4 (69.4 to 76.8) | 1.06 (0.92 to 1.23) | 1.02 (0.87 to 1.19) |
| Cost of cigarettes | 39.5 (36.9 to 42.5) | 36.0 (31.8 to 41.4) | 43.5 (40.8 to 46.9) | 41.9 (38.5 to 46.3) | 1.24 (1.09 to 1.41)* | 1.17 (1.02 to 1.34)* |
| Stricter bans on public smoking | 5.3 (4.1 to 6.3) | 6.4 (4.2 to 9.0) | 3.9 (3.1 to 5.2) | 4.1 (2.8 to 5.3) | 1.03 (0.76 to 1.40) | 0.99 (0.71 to 1.38) |
| Increasing age | 20.7 (18.3 to 23.5) | 19.6 (15.5 to 23.5) | 21.9 (18.6 to 24.9) | 22.0 (19.1 to 25.1) | 1.13 (0.96 to 1.34) | 1.09 (0.92 to 1.30) |
ORs adjusted for age, gender, race, income and heaviness of smoking.
*Asterisks (*) indicate statistically significant results at p<0.05.
*Defined as smokers who had made at least one quit attempt in their lifetime.
†E-cigarette never users defined as smokers who have never used e-cigarettes in their lifetime, not even once or twice. E-cigarette ever users defined as smokers who have used e-cigarettes at least once in their lifetime. E-cigarette current users defined as persons who indicated that they used at least one ‘smoke or smokeless’ tobacco product regularly and also indicated e-cigarette use at any frequency at the time of the survey.
‡Ever use of each cessation aid defined as use at least once in a lifetime; current use of each cessation aid defined as self-reported use at any frequency at the time of the survey.
§Either ‘nicotine sprays (eg, Quit)’; or ‘nicotine gums (eg, Nicorette)’.
¶Use of either NRT or prescription medication (eg, Zyban, Champix).
**Use of cessation counselling (ie, smoking cessation programmes for example, SmokEnders, Allan Carr) and/or any medication.
NRT, nicotine replacement therapy; PR, prevalence ratio; ZAR, South African rand.