Trends in cigarette smoking among coronary patients between 1961 and 1975.

Between 1961 and 1975 the proportion of cigarette smokers among male patients with acute coronary heart disease showed a progressive decline from 87.1 to 66.1%. There was a corresponding increase in the proportion of ex-smokers and non-smokers. Factors which might have accounted for this trend were examined. Changing diagnosis, altered prevalence of other risk factors and social class changes in patient referral would not appear to have accounted for the observed smoking trends. It is suggested that the observed trends in cigarette-smoking habits may be real and that they may represent a change in the epidemiological pattern of coronary heart disease in Ireland.