CFAR member, Professor Chris Bullen, is a co-author of the prestigious Cochrane review on e-cigarettes and their effect on smoking cessation. The review includes two HRC-funded pragmatic clinical trials run by CFAR researchers at the University of Auckland, one led by Prof Bullen and the other led by Associate Professor Natalie Walker.

The review found moderate-certainty evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes can increase smoking quit rates compared to nicotine-free e-cigarettes, or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). The overall incidence of serious adverse events (SAEs) in the included studies was low, with no evidence of harm from nicotine e-cigarettes. However, the longest follow-up was two years and the overall number of studies was small.