More than one-fourth of smokers attempting to quit used e-cigarettes during 3 months after hospital discharge, mostly to aid cessation, but few used them regularly, a recent study found. This pattern of use was associated with less tobacco abstinence at 6 months than among smokers who did not use e-cigarettes. The secondary data analysis included 1,357 hospitalized adult cigarette smokers from 3 hospitals who planned to stop smoking, received tobacco cessation counseling in the hospital, and were randomly assigned at discharge to a tobacco treatment recommendation (control) or free tobacco treatment (intervention). Self-reported e-cigarette use (exposure) was assessed 1 and 3 months after discharge; biochemically validated tobacco abstinence (outcome) was assessed 6 months after discharge. Researchers found:

• 28% of participants used an e-cigarette within 3 months after discharge.
• E-cigarette users were less likely than nonusers to abstain from tobacco use at 6 months.
• The association between e-cigarette use and quitting varied between intervention patients and control patients.