BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the association between age at starting smoking and the average number of cigarettes smoked per day in adulthood. To provide further evidence on this issue, we analyzed data from the Catalan Health Interview Survey (CHIS). METHODS: The CHIS was conducted in 1994 on a randomly selected sample (N = 15,000) of the population of Catalonia, Spain. A total of 4,897 current or exsmokers (3,276 males and 1,621 females) were included for analysis. Age-standardized proportions of subjects smoking <15, 15-24, and >/=25 cigarettes/day, age-standardized mean number of cigarettes smoked per day, and multivariate odds ratios (OR) of being a heavy smoker (>/=25 cigarettes/day) according to age at starting smoking (<15, 15-17, 18-19, >/=20 years) were computed. RESULTS: Men who started smoking before the age of 15 smoked on average 5.5 cigarettes more than those who started at age 19 or over. Women who started smoking early in life smoked, on average, 6.8 cigarettes/day more than women who started later. The proportion of smokers of <15 cigarettes/day was higher among subjects who started smoking later. Both for males and for females, the OR of being a heavy smoker significantly increased with decreasing age at starting smoking (OR = 2.4 for males and 4.5 for females who started at age <15 versus >/=20 years). The level of education did not modify the relationship in males, whereas the association with age at starting was only apparent for more educated women. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that age at starting smoking is inversely and strongly associated to the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Thus, actions aimed at the prevention or delay of smoking onset among adolescents would have an important beneficial effect. Copyright 1999 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.
BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the association between age at starting smoking and the average number of cigarettes smoked per day in adulthood. To provide further evidence on this issue, we analyzed data from the Catalan Health Interview Survey (CHIS). METHODS: The CHIS was conducted in 1994 on a randomly selected sample (N = 15,000) of the population of Catalonia, Spain. A total of 4,897 current or exsmokers (3,276 males and 1,621 females) were included for analysis. Age-standardized proportions of subjects smoking <15, 15-24, and >/=25 cigarettes/day, age-standardized mean number of cigarettes smoked per day, and multivariate odds ratios (OR) of being a heavy smoker (>/=25 cigarettes/day) according to age at starting smoking (<15, 15-17, 18-19, >/=20 years) were computed. RESULTS:Men who started smoking before the age of 15 smoked on average 5.5 cigarettes more than those who started at age 19 or over. Women who started smoking early in life smoked, on average, 6.8 cigarettes/day more than women who started later. The proportion of smokers of <15 cigarettes/day was higher among subjects who started smoking later. Both for males and for females, the OR of being a heavy smoker significantly increased with decreasing age at starting smoking (OR = 2.4 for males and 4.5 for females who started at age <15 versus >/=20 years). The level of education did not modify the relationship in males, whereas the association with age at starting was only apparent for more educated women. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that age at starting smoking is inversely and strongly associated to the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Thus, actions aimed at the prevention or delay of smoking onset among adolescents would have an important beneficial effect. Copyright 1999 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.
Authors: David Hammond; Foong Kin; Aree Prohmmo; Nipapun Kungskulniti; Tan Y Lian; Sharad K Sharma; Buppha Sirirassamee; Ron Borland; Geoffrey T Fong Journal: Asia Pac J Public Health Date: 2008-05-13 Impact factor: 1.399
Authors: Prasad Katulanda; Isurujith Kongala Liyanage; Kremlin Wickramasinghe; Indunil Piyadigama; Indika M Karunathilake; Paula H Palmer; David R Matthews Journal: Asia Pac J Public Health Date: 2012-03-16 Impact factor: 1.399
Authors: Edward D Levin; Amir H Rezvani; Daniel Montoya; Jed E Rose; H Scott Swartzwelder Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2003-05-23 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Sarah H Stephens; Sarah M Hartz; Nicole R Hoft; Nancy L Saccone; Robin C Corley; John K Hewitt; Christian J Hopfer; Naomi Breslau; Hilary Coon; Xiangning Chen; Francesca Ducci; Nicole Dueker; Nora Franceschini; Josef Frank; Younghun Han; Nadia N Hansel; Chenhui Jiang; Tellervo Korhonen; Penelope A Lind; Jason Liu; Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen; Martha Michel; John R Shaffer; Susan E Short; Juzhong Sun; Alexander Teumer; John R Thompson; Nicole Vogelzangs; Jacqueline M Vink; Angela Wenzlaff; William Wheeler; Bao-Zhu Yang; Steven H Aggen; Anthony J Balmforth; Sebastian E Baumeister; Terri H Beaty; Daniel J Benjamin; Andrew W Bergen; Ulla Broms; David Cesarini; Nilanjan Chatterjee; Jingchun Chen; Yu-Ching Cheng; Sven Cichon; David Couper; Francesco Cucca; Danielle Dick; Tatiana Foroud; Helena Furberg; Ina Giegling; Nathan A Gillespie; Fangyi Gu; Alistair S Hall; Jenni Hällfors; Shizhong Han; Annette M Hartmann; Kauko Heikkilä; Ian B Hickie; Jouke Jan Hottenga; Pekka Jousilahti; Marika Kaakinen; Mika Kähönen; Philipp D Koellinger; Stephen Kittner; Bettina Konte; Maria-Teresa Landi; Tiina Laatikainen; Mark Leppert; Steven M Levy; Rasika A Mathias; Daniel W McNeil; Sarah E Medland; Grant W Montgomery; Tanda Murray; Matthias Nauck; Kari E North; Peter D Paré; Michele Pergadia; Ingo Ruczinski; Veikko Salomaa; Jorma Viikari; Gonneke Willemsen; Kathleen C Barnes; Eric Boerwinkle; Dorret I Boomsma; Neil Caporaso; Howard J Edenberg; Clyde Francks; Joel Gelernter; Hans Jörgen Grabe; Hyman Hops; Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin; Magnus Johannesson; Kenneth S Kendler; Terho Lehtimäki; Patrik K E Magnusson; Mary L Marazita; Jonathan Marchini; Braxton D Mitchell; Markus M Nöthen; Brenda W Penninx; Olli Raitakari; Marcella Rietschel; Dan Rujescu; Nilesh J Samani; Ann G Schwartz; Sanjay Shete; Margaret Spitz; Gary E Swan; Henry Völzke; Juha Veijola; Qingyi Wei; Chris Amos; Dale S Cannon; Richard Grucza; Dorothy Hatsukami; Andrew Heath; Eric O Johnson; Jaakko Kaprio; Pamela Madden; Nicholas G Martin; Victoria L Stevens; Robert B Weiss; Peter Kraft; Laura J Bierut; Marissa A Ehringer Journal: Genet Epidemiol Date: 2013-11-01 Impact factor: 2.135