Effectiveness of E-cigarette in smoking cessation among medical students in KAU, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background: There are a few studies that were carried out to measure the effectiveness of E-cigarettes on the actual cessation of smoking and whether E -cigarettes are a safe and secure replacement for traditional tobacco cigarettes. This requires an extensive investment of research to evaluate the product more closely and to analyze the prevalence of its use, whether it's for the purpose of smoking cessation or just as a routine smoking habit. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in early 2022 at the faculty of medicine in King Abdulaziz University. The study included 263 students. A standardized, anonymous questionnaire was adopted and validated by previous study. Statistical analysis using "IBM SPSS statistics ver. 20.0" was applied to evaluate and test the hypothesis. Results: The study included 263 students, 60.9% of them were males and 39.1% of them were females. 133 students were smokers (49 of 133 them were past smoker and 86 were current smoker). Regarding smoking type used, 23 (17.3%) were tobacco cigarettes and 90 (67.7%) were using E-cigarettes/vape and 20 (15%) were using other types of tobacco products. 36.1% of smoking participants use E-cigarettes as a method of tobacco cessation. There was a significant association between using E-cigarettes/vape regularly with marital status and academic year of participants (P< 0.05). Conclusion: This study has concluded that using E-cigarettes/vape has a role in smoking cessation among number of medical students who quit smoking after using it and it's considered a bridge for the people who intent to decrease their smoking consumption.