HLSC122 Assessment 3: Critical Appraisal of E-cigarette Research

This report is a critical appraisal of a research paper by Brown et al. (2014) investigating the real-world effectiveness of e-cigarettes in aiding smoking cessation. The report examines the research question, design, methods, and results of the study, comparing e-cigarettes to nicotine replacement therapy. The study employed a cross-sectional survey of the English population, focusing on self-reported abstinence rates. The appraisal covers authorship, research questions, design, methods, and results, including the use of statistical analysis like ANOVA and logistic regression. The study found that e-cigarette users reported higher abstinence rates compared to those using nicotine replacement therapy, with a discussion of the impact of socioeconomic status and other variables. The conclusion supports the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation and highlights the importance of public health implications. The report also includes a comprehensive reference list and adheres to APA format.

Page 1 of 9
Title page
Student Name:
HLSC122 Semester 2, 2018
Assessment 3: Critical appraisal of evidence
Word count:
Student name/student number

Page 2 of 9
Brown, J., Beard, E., Kotz, D., Michie, S., & West, R. (2014). Real-world effectiveness of e-cigarettes
when used to aid smoking cessation: A cross-sectional population study. Addiction,109(9), 1531-
1540. doi:10.1111/add.12623
Introduction:
The case study represents the smoking habit of a 34 years geologist who wishes to use
her saving for Airnb business and the business has a strict no smoking policy. She wanted to
know the availability of any evidences which suggest the effectiveness of e cigarette in stopping
the habit of smoking compared to nicotine replacement therapy. Smoking is considered as one of
the leading cause of the premature death and disability around the globe. The mortality rate
exponentially increases the due to the inhalation of the toxins rather than smoking cigarette
directly (Manzoli et al., 2017). The electric cigarette sometimes used in replacement of the
nicotine and it provides the vapour of the nicotine without the tobacco. Therefore, this paper will
critically appraise a research journal in order to obtain how the e-cigarettes compared to other
nicotine replacement therapies for smoking cessation in adults.
Body:
PART A
Authorship:
The authors of the paper who conducted the research are including Jamie brown, Emma
beard, Danial Kortz, Susan Michie who were part of the uk centre for the tocabbo nad alcohols
Student name/student number

Page 3 of 9
studies. The researcher, Jamie Brown who is associated with University College London Cancer
Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre London UK,University College London
Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology London UK. The second autho,r
Emma breard is associated with University College London Cancer Research, UK Health
Behavior Research Centre London UK. The third author, Danial kortz is associated with
university College London Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre London
UK,Maastricht University ,Medical Centre Department of Family Medicine, CAPHRI School for
Public Health and Primary Care Maastricht the Netherlands. The fourth author, Susan Michie
associated with University College London Department of Clinical, Educational and Health
Psychology London the UK, National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training London
UK.The fourth author, Robert West associated with University College London Cancer Research
UK Health Behaviour Research Centre London the UK,National Centre for Smoking Cessation
and Training London UK.
Research questions:
How effective are e-cigarettes compared to other nicotine replacement therapies for
Smoking cessation in adults?
Research design:
According to the Duke et al. (2016), research design is a detailed procedure necessary for
obtaining the information required for addressing any research problem. In the paper, Brown et
Student name/student number

Page 4 of 9
al., (2014), has shown the research design in the portion of methodology and accurately
described the process. To compare the effectiveness of the e-cigarette has been chosen, a
quantitative study has been chosen where a cross-sectional household survey was conducted for
the population of English in between July 2009 and February 2014. The study focused on the
self-reported abstinence rates of smokers in the general population of England (Brown et al.,
2014). The comparison has been drawn in between the individual who used only the E-cigarette
with the individual who used nicotine replacement therapy. Therefore, the researchers clearly
stated how the participants had been selected which helps to compare between two part of the
study (Brown et al., 2014) .The survey is part of the smoking toolkit, which was conducted
through a set questioner. The first person analysis is important for the understanding of the
mental state of the participants (Beard et al., 2016). Therefore, in this paper, the survey helped
the researchers to obtain the mental state of the population. The researchers included the
responder who used the e-cigarette or Nicotine replacement therapy and excluded those
responders who used the combination. This aids the researcher in obtaining accurate primary
data (Zhu et al., 2016).
Research methods:
According to the author, the research method is crucial for obtaining accurate data for
accomplishing the research accurately. In this paper, Brown et al. (2014), the author discussed
the detailed methodology for conducting the research, data collection, analysis of the data. A
large cross-sectional study was conducted where 5834 adults were taken as participants (Brown
et al., 2014). The author clearly stated other quitting methods by asking the questions such as
whether other methods helped them when they have seriously tried to quit smoking and the
Student name/student number

Page 5 of 9
answer were noted (Brown et al., 2014). The outcome was noted as the primary data. The
methodology was ideal for obtaining accurate data since no biasness, which observed in the
clinical trial (Kalkhoran & Glantz, 2016). However, the limitation of the study was that the study
conducted on the
The analysis of the data was a meticulously in-depth process that was performed by
researchers. The investigation was done by bivariate association between the uses of the different
quitting methods and abstinent was done considering the social demographic, smoking history of
the patient (Brown et al., 2014). The statistical analysis of the paper was detailed with tabular
representation. The statistical analysis was done by ANOVA, logistic regression where the
measurement was done for the reported smoker and non-smoker group of the participants. In
order to reduce any inaccuracy, the data analysis included the models, which measures the
effectiveness of the quitting method. Pos hoc analysis was also done by researchers. All of the
methodologies was detailed and descriptive however they do not consider other variables related
to the abstinence.
Results:
In the paper, Brown et al. (2014), the study was conducted considering 6134 participants
who reported for attempting to quit smoking over the 12 months. The post hoc comparison
showed that those individual who used e-cigarette are younger compared to those who used
nicotine replacement therapy with lower socioeconomic status. The study showed that reported
individual who was using nicotine replacement therapy have more urges to smoke cigarette and
smoked more cigarette compared to the other survey group who was using an e-cigarette (Polosa
Student name/student number

Page 6 of 9
et al., 2014). The study suggested that the participants who most recent attempt to quit smoking
and smoked e- cigarette are more likely to resist the urge of smoking. On the other hand,
participants who used Nicotine replacement therapy are more likely to smoke in their most recent
attempt to quit smoking. Another study by Al-Delaimy et al. (2015), shows the similar result for
comparison. However, the study also reported the use of nicotine replacement, not therapy more
likely used by a dependent smoker in contrast to the individuals who have lower socioeconomic
status (Hassan, & Shiu, (2015). This, in turn, suggested the association between the economic
situation and the use of treatment by responders. Current evidence stated that e-cigarette is more
effective in the cessation of smoking with minimal side effects (Cole-Lewis et al., 2015).
Consequently, it improves the overall public health because of its widespread appeal.
PART B
Conclusion:
Thus, it can be concluded in contrast to the case study; smoking is one the leading cause
of disability and morbidity around the globe. The paper suggested that those individuals who do
not seek clinical assistance and other professional support but use e-cigarette more likely to
report abstinence compared to the individual who uses nicotine replacement therapy. Therefore,
it is suggested that e-cigarette is more effective than nicotine regarding cessation of smoking and
improvement of public health.however, the studies also indicate the association of the economic
status, age with the use of treatment for attempting to quit smoking.
Student name/student number

Page 7 of 9
References:
Brown, J., Beard, E., Kotz, D., Michie, S., & West, R. (2014). Real-world effectiveness of e-
cigaretteswhen used to aid smoking cessation: A cross-sectional population study.
Addiction,109(9), 1531-1540. doi:10.1111/add.12623
Manzoli, L., Flacco, M. E., Ferrante, M., La Vecchia, C., Siliquini, R., Ricciardi, W., ... & Fiore,
M. (2017). Cohort study of electronic cigarette use: effectiveness and safety at 24
months. Tobacco control, 26(3), 284-292.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052822
Beard, E., West, R., Michie, S., & Brown, J. (2016). Association between electronic cigarette use
and changes in quit attempts, success of quit attempts, use of smoking cessation
pharmacotherapy, and use of stop smoking services in England: time series analysis of
population trends. bmj, 354, i4645.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.12623
Duke, J. C., Allen, J. A., Eggers, M. E., Nonnemaker, J., & Farrelly, M. C. (2015). Exploring
differences in youth perceptions of the effectiveness of electronic cigarette television
advertisements. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 18(5), 1382-1386.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntv264
Zhu, S. H., Zhuang, Y. L., Wong, S., Cummins, S. E., & Tedeschi, G. J. (2017). E-cigarette use
and associated changes in population smoking cessation: evidence from US current
population surveys. bmj, 358, j3262. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j3262
Student name/student number

Page 8 of 9
Brown, J., West, R., Beard, E., Michie, S., Shahab, L., & McNeill, A. (2014). Prevalence and
characteristics of e-cigarette users in Great Britain: findings from a general population
survey of smokers. Addictive behaviors, 39(6), 1120-1125.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.03.009
Kalkhoran, S., & Glantz, S. A. (2016). E-cigarettes and smoking cessation in real-world and
clinical settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Respiratory
Medicine, 4(2), 116-128. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(15)00521-4
Hitchman, S. C., Brose, L. S., Brown, J., Robson, D., & McNeill, A. (2015). Associations
between e-cigarette type, frequency of use, and quitting smoking: findings from a
longitudinal online panel survey in Great Britain. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 17(10),
1187-1194.
Polosa, R., Morjaria, J. B., Caponnetto, P., Campagna, D., Russo, C., Alamo, A., ... & Fisichella,
A. (2014). Effectiveness and tolerability of electronic cigarette in real-life: a 24-month
prospective observational study. Internal and emergency medicine, 9(5), 537-546. DOI
10.1007/s11739-013-0977-z
Al-Delaimy, W. K., Myers, M. G., Leas, E. C., Strong, D. R., & Hofstetter, C. R. (2015). E-
cigarette use in the past and quitting behavior in the future: a population-based study.
American journal of public health, 105(6), 1213-1219. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302482
Hassan, L. M., & Shiu, E. (2015). No place to hide: two pilot studies assessing the effectiveness
of adding a health warning to the cigarette stick. Tobacco control, 24(e1), e3-e5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052771
Student name/student number

Page 9 of 9
Cole-Lewis, H., Varghese, A., Sanders, A., Schwarz, M., Pugatch, J., & Augustson, E. (2015).
Assessing electronic cigarette-related tweets for sentiment and content using supervised
machine learning. Journal of medical Internet research, 17(8).
Student name/student number