TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of electronic cigarette e-liquid flavouring on cigarette craving JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control DO - 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056769 SP - tobaccocontrol-2021-056769 AU - Maddy L Dyer AU - Jasmine N Khouja AU - Abigail R Jackson AU - Michelle A Havill AU - Martin J Dockrell AU - Marcus R Munafo AU - Angela S Attwood Y1 - 2021/11/17 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2021/11/16/tobaccocontrol-2021-056769.abstract N2 - Background E-liquid flavour restrictions may discourage electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) uptake among youth. However, possible unintended consequences may include reduced appeal and effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. Non-tobacco flavours appear to be important for smoking cessation, but how and why are currently unclear.Methods We conducted an experimental study in a UK sample of adult daily smokers using an independent groups design (N=84). Participants were randomised to use an e-cigarette with nicotine-containing fruit/sweet-flavoured e-liquid (blackcurrant, strawberry, vanilla, caramel) or unflavoured e-liquid for 1 week. The primary outcomes were average, peak and cue-elicited cigarette craving (the latter was assessed using a cue exposure task). The secondary outcomes were smoking lapse occurrence, enjoyment of the e-cigarette, ease of transitioning from smoking to using an e-cigarette, intentions to continue using an e-cigarette, intentions and motivation to quit smoking, return to smoking, and continuation of e-cigarette use.Results E-liquid flavouring did not appear to have an effect on average cigarette craving (b 0.18, 95% CI −0.44 to 0.79, p=0.57), peak cigarette craving (b −0.12, 95% CI −0.59 to 0.35, p=0.62) or cue-elicited cigarette craving (b −0.21, 95% CI −3.86 to 3.43, p=0.91). We did not find evidence of a difference in secondary outcomes.Conclusions We did not find evidence to suggest that nicotine-containing fruit/sweet-flavoured and unflavoured e-liquids have different effects on cigarette cravings after 1 week of use. Further research is needed to establish if differences emerge over longer periods of exposure and extend to smoking cessation outcomes.Data are available in a public, open access repository. Study data, analysis code and associated documents are available at the University of Bristol data repository (https://data.bris.ac.uk/data/dataset/2keqznqqitdqs24ahc1e0b2x6o). ER -