Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38348917›Full record

Trial reportNicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco2025

The Impact of Three Alternate Nicotine-Delivery Products on Combusted Cigarette Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Megan E Piper, Tanya R Schlam, Eric C Donny, Kate Kobinsky, Julia Matthews, Thomas M Piasecki, Douglas E Jorenby

Open access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Megan E PiperCenter for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9876-5460
Tanya R SchlamCenter for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Eric C DonnyDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3288-9652
Kate KobinskyCenter for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Julia MatthewsCenter for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Thomas M PiaseckiCenter for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2793-2049
Douglas E JorenbyCenter for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
University of Wisconsin–Madison · USWake Forest University · US

Funding

Understanding the real-world impact of the use of three alternate nicotine-delivery products on combustible cigarette useR01CA239309 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI PIPER, MEGAN E · 2019 to 2021
$1.4M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA239309NIH HHS R01CA239309
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSmoking cessation is a critical public health goal. This study examined the ability of e-cigarettes and very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNCs) to serve as cigarette substitutes and whether a substitution was supported by steady-state nicotine from a nicotine patch. AIMS AND

methodsThis mixed design experiment with study product (between-subjects) and patch (within-subjects) factors recruited adults smoking cigarettes daily and not motivated to quit (N = 160). Participants were randomized to 4 weeks of: (1) VLNCs; (2) e-cigarettes; or (3) no product. During two switch weeks, one with an active nicotine patch and one with a placebo patch (in a double-blind and counterbalanced fashion), participants were told to not smoke their usual cigarettes.

resultsDuring the switch weeks, participants in the VLNC (M = 2.88, SD = .65) and e-cigarette (M = 3.20, SD = .63) groups smoked fewer of their own cigarettes per day than did no product group participants who continued to smoke their own cigarettes (M = 5.48, SD = .63); the VLNC and e-cigarette groups did not differ. There was no main effect of patch on mean usual brand cigarettes smoked per day (P = .09), nor was there a product × patch interaction (P = .51). There was a product × age interaction (P = .03); smokers aged 60-74 smoked more of their own cigarettes if they were randomized to no product group.

conclusionsVLNCs and e-cigarettes appear to reduce usual brand cigarettes smoked per day to a similar degree, regardless of patch condition. Behavioral factors, in addition to nicotine dependence, play an important role in sustaining smoking behavior and need to be addressed in smoking cessation treatment. IMPLICATIONS: This study found that behavioral substitutes for cigarettes, whether or not they delivered nicotine, reduced the number of usual brand cigarettes smoked. Specifically, both e-cigarettes delivering nicotine and VLNCs equally reduce usual brand cigarettes smoked among adults who smoke daily and do not want to quit.

Indexed as

Cigarette SmokingElectronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsNicotineSmoking CessationTobacco ProductsTobacco Use Cessation DevicesAdultDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNicotine

Identifiers

PMID38348917
PMCPMC11750741
OpenAlexW4391785973

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.