The use of e-cigarettes produced up to 22K additional long-term quitters in England in 2014, according to latest estimates.
The research team from University College London defined a long-term quitter as someone who has not smoked for at least one-year.
Writing in their paper published in Addiction the research team led by Professor Robert West said an important consideration when assessing the public health impact of e-cigarettes was how far they contribute to, or detract from, smoking cessation in the population.
There had been speculation from certain public health experts that e-cigarettes undermined quitting and could act as a gateway to smoking cigarettes.
A recent review published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine that suggested those who use e-cigarettes are less likely to quit than smokers (read our story here).
Read our analysis: The vape debate: smoker’s salvation or gateway drug?
But without engaging appropriately with the relevant data these assertions are based on unreliable assumptions, they said.