Table 5.
Evidence summary of smoking cessation: e-cigarettes versus NRT or placebo
| Certainty assessment | Number of patients | Effect | Certainty | Importance | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of studies | Study design | Risk of bias | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations | EC | NRT or placebo | Relative (95% CI) | Absolute (95% CI) | ||
| Abstinence rate | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Randomized trials | Not serious | Seriousa | Not serious | Seriousb | Undetected | 180/2201 (8.2%) | 103/1824 (5.6%) | RR=1.55 (1.00–2.40) | 31 more per 1000 (from 0 fewer to 79 more) | ⊕ ⊕ ◯ ◯ Low |
Critical |
a
I2=57.6%.
b
Number of events <300. EC: electronic cigarette. NRT: nicotine replacement therapy. CI: confidence interval. RR: risk ratio.