E-cigarettes: online survey of UK smoking cessation practitioners

Table 1 Queries about, use of and opinions on e-cigarettes among clients as reported by SSS practitioners

	2011 survey		2013 survey
	N	%	N	%	p
Clients asking about e-cigs compared to one year ago					P < .001
More clients asking	338	64.3	607	90.7
Same proportion	129	24.5	48	7.2
Fewer clients asking	59	11.2	14	2.1
Total	526	100.0	669	100.0
% clients ever used e-cigs					P < .001
None	50	9.9	13	2.0
Less than a quarter	404	79.8	283	43.2
Quarter to a half	38	7.5	262	40.0
Half to three quarters	6	1.2	80	12.2
More than three quarters	8	1.6	17	2.6
Total	506	100.0	655	100.0
% clients regularly using e-cigs					P < .001
None	90	18.6	25	3.8
Less than a quarter	382	79.1	445	67.8
Quarter to a half	11	2.3	154	23.5
Half to three quarters	0	0.0	23	3.5
More than three quarters	0	0.0	9	1.4
Total¹	483	100.0	656	100.0
Clients queries about e-cigs		P < .001		P < .001
Where to get them?	249	49.2	227	6.1
Do SSS provide them?	4	0.8	569	15.4
Why don’t SSS provide?	36	7.1	434	11.8
How much do they cost?	3	0.6	188	5.1
Are they legal?	0	0.0	138	3.7
Contain harmful additives?	63	12.5	356	9.6
Safe for users?	67	13.2	436	11.8
Safe for OTHERS around?	2	0.4	122	3.3
Effective for stopping?	68	13.4	514	13.9
Effective for cutting down?	2	0.4	341	9.2
Problems with products?	1	0.2	100	2.7
How they work?	11	2.2	267	7.2
Total queries¹	506	100.0	3692	100.0
‘E-cigs are a good thing’					P < .001
strongly agree	27	4.6	47	6.7
agree	60	10.2	135	19.2
unsure	282	48.0	293	41.6
disagree	123	21.0	94	13.3
strongly disagree	95	16.2	106	15.0
Total	587	100.0	675	100.0

ISSN: 1617-9625