Dataset Information

Do smoking habits differ between women and men in contemporary Western populations? Evidence from half a million people in the UK Biobank study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Several studies have shown that smoking may confer a greater excess risk for chronic diseases in women compared with men. The reasons for this excess risk of smoking in women are unclear, yet sex differences in smoking habits may play a role. We, thus, characterised sex differences in smoking habits in a contemporary Western population.

Design

Cross-sectional population-based study.

Setting

UK Biobank Resource.

Participants

499,797 (54% women) individuals with data on smoking habits.

Main outcome measures

Women-to-men prevalence ratios in smoking status, and the women-minus-men mean difference in age at smoking initiation, number of cigarettes smoked daily and age at smoking cessation in 5-year birth cohort bands.

Results

The women-to-men ever-smoking ratio ranged from 0.57 in the oldest to 0.87 in the youngest birth cohort. In the oldest cohort, born 1935-1939, women started smoking 1.9?years (95% CI 1.7 to 2.1) later than did men, but in those born after 1959 there was no difference in the age at initiation. The oldest women smoked 5.3 (95% CI 4.7 to 5.9) cigarettes per day fewer than did the oldest men, compared with 2.0 (95% CI 1.7 to 2.3) fewer cigarettes smoked per day in the youngest, born 1965-1969. Among quitters, women born before 1945 were, on average, 1.5?years older than their male contemporaries, but this differential was 1?year or less among people born after 1949.

Conclusions

Differences in smoking behaviour between women and men have decreased over time. Even past differentials are unlikely to explain the increased susceptibility to smoking-related chronic disease in women compared with men that has previously been observed. Future studies are required to determine whether sex differences in the physiological and biological effects of smoking are responsible for the differential impact of smoking on health in women and men.

SUBMITTER: Peters SA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4281541 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Do smoking habits differ between women and men in contemporary Western populations? Evidence from half a million people in the UK Biobank study.

Peters Sanne A E SA Huxley Rachel R RR Woodward Mark M

BMJ open 20141230 12

<h4>Objectives</h4>Several studies have shown that smoking may confer a greater excess risk for chronic diseases in women compared with men. The reasons for this excess risk of smoking in women are unclear, yet sex differences in smoking habits may play a role. We, thus, characterised sex differences in smoking habits in a contemporary Western population.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional population-based study.<h4>Setting</h4>UK Biobank Resource.<h4>Participants</h4>499,797 (54% women) individuals ...[more]

PMID: 25550291

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate the association of grip strength with disease specific incidence and mortality and whether grip strength enhances the prediction ability of an established office based risk score.DesignProspective population based study.SettingUK Biobank.Participants502?293 participants (54% women) aged 40-69 years.Main outcome measuresAll cause mortality as well as incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer (all cancer, colorectal, lung, breast, and prostate).ResultsOf the participants included in analyses, 13?322 (2.7%) died over a mean of 7.1 (range 5.3-9.9) years' follow-up. In women and men, respectively, hazard ratios per 5 kg lower grip strength were higher (all at P<0.05) for all cause mortality (1.20, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 1.23, and 1.16, 1.15 to 1.17) and cause specific mortality from cardiovascular disease (1.19, 1.13 to 1.25, and 1.22, 1.18 to 1.26), all respiratory disease (1.31, 1.22 to 1.40, and 1.24, 1.20 to 1.28), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.24, 1.05 to 1.47, and 1.19, 1.09 to 1.30), all cancer (1.17, 1.13 to 1.21, 1.10, 1.07 to 1.13), colorectal cancer (1.17, 1.04 to 1.32, and 1.18, 1.09 to 1.27), lung cancer (1.17, 1.07 to 1.27, and 1.08, 1.03 to 1.13), and breast cancer (1.24, 1.10 to 1.39) but not prostate cancer (1.05, 0.96 to 1.15). Several of these relations had higher hazard ratios in the younger age group. Muscle weakness (defined as grip strength <26 kg for men and <16 kg for women) was associated with a higher hazard for all health outcomes, except colon cancer in women and prostate cancer and lung cancer in both men and women. The addition of handgrip strength improved the prediction ability, based on C index change, of an office based risk score (age, sex, diabetes diagnosed, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and smoking) for all cause (0.013) and cardiovascular mortality (0.012) and incidence of cardiovascular disease (0.009).ConclusionHigher grip strength was associated with a range of health outcomes and improved prediction of an office based risk score. Further work on the use of grip strength in risk scores or risk screening is needed to establish its potential clinical utility.

Dataset Information

Do smoking habits differ between women and men in contemporary Western populations? Evidence from half a million people in the UK Biobank study.

Objectives

Design

Setting

Participants

Main outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Do smoking habits differ between women and men in contemporary Western populations? Evidence from half a million people in the UK Biobank study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets