Proportion Of Non-smokers Research Articles

EFFECT OF CIGARETTE SMOKING ON THE FREQUENCY OF VENTRICULAR PREMATURE COMPLEXES IN NORMAL SUBJECTS

1. Ambulatory ECG monitoring was undertaken in healthy cigarette smokers (33) and non-smokers (20) of similar age (21-66 years). 2. The frequency of ventricular premature complexes (VPC) was less in habitual smokers (P less than 0.05; Mann-Whitney rank test) and an average of more than 1 VPC per hour occurred in a higher proportion of non-smokers than smokers: eight of 20 (40%) vs two of 33 (6%) (P less than 0.01; Chi-square test).

Age differences in personal health practices of rural women.

Do older rural women have more positive health practices than younger rural women? Belloc and Breslow ( 2 ) examined seven practiceseating breakfast, snacking, regular exercise, sleep, smoking, alcohol use, and maintaining desirable body weight-in an urban population and found that more of the older than the younger respondents practiced all seven of these behaviors. Other researchers (1, 3, 4 ) also reported higher frequencies of positive health behaviors in older urban populations. The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence of health practices among rural women and to analyze differences among age groups. A survey was conducted by mail of 10 rural counties in Kansas. Potential subjects (n = 1500) were selected from telephone directories. The survey included selected demographic information and seven personal health practices. The final response rate was 44.5%. The distribution of respondents by age, race, and marital status was comparable to that of the 1980 Census population. The proportion of respondents with higher education (36 9 % ) is greater than that of the female population in Kansas (23.6%). There was a s~gnificant ( X q p 5 .01) difference between younger and older women for six of the health practices. The proportions of rural women who are nondrinkers, nonsmokers, nonsnackers, and breakfast eaters are higher in the older age groups. More younger women exercise and maintain desirable body weight than do older women Sleep did nor show a significant age-related pattern. Older rural women do have a greater number of positive health practices than do younger rural women, but older rural women in Kansas did not report as many positive health practices as their urban counterparts. The greater proportion of older rural women not exercising and maintaining desirable body weight may be the result of several factors not examined in this study, such as metabolism, lack of support or facilities for exercise, and diet. The greater proportion of nonsmokers among rural women compared to urban women may also explain the lower proportion of older rural women with desirable body weight. Finally, it must be noted that the low response rate may have introduced a bias inro the results. With these limitations, the findings must be carefully weighed.

Clinical Features of Lung Cancers Discovered as a Postmortem “Surprise”

Despite improved modern diagnostic techniques, many patients with primary lung cancer escape detection of their disease during life. In a review of postmortem records at a university hospital, 28 percent of 153 primary lung cancers found at necropsy had not been diagnosed while the patient was alive. The male/female ratio was 1.3 in this undetected group, compared with 2.3 in the detected group. The main clinical features that seemed to lead to nondiagnosis were a terminal clinical state in patients who were too sick for further diagnostic searches, the absence of suggestive primary symptoms, a chest x-ray film interpreted as not showing primary lung cancer, and the absence of cigarette smoking. Among the patients with lung cancer at necropsy, the proportion of nonsmokers was higher in the previously undiagnosed group than in the group with antemortem diagnoses, even when patients were stratified for primary symptoms. The findings suggest the need for diagnostic alertness to the possibility that curable lung cancer can occur in patients who have a positive chest-film lesion but who are nonsmokers and who lack typical symptoms.

Behavioral and pharmacological treatment of cigarette smoking: End of treatment comparisons

Success in a stop-smoking treatment program was compared in patients who received behavioral treatment alone (BT) or behavioral treatment plus Nicorette gum (NT). The proportion of nonsmokers at the end of the 10-week program was higher with the groups receiving BT (82%) than in those receiving NT (50%). While the groups differed in their initial tolerance levels and number of previous quit attempts, the data suggest that the addition of Nicorette gum did not confer a substantial advantage over BT alone.

Activity pattern, smoking habits, and somatometric variables of the Czechoslovakian population.

A total of 3762 subjects of both sexes, natives of Czechoslovakia, ranging in age from 12--55 years, were examined. Both anamnestic data and selected anthropometric variables were evaluated. The proportion of non-smokers for adult males was 47--56%, and for adult females was 54--74% of the population. The proportion of subjects not engaged in any type of physical activity decreases in boys between 12 and 18 years from 28 to 16%, in girls between 12 and 15 years from 25 to 22%; from then on the trend reverses and the percentages rises up to 42% in men and 65% in women. The number of subjects participating in competitive sporting activity reaches its peak at 18 years, when 46% of boys annd 43% of girls compete, but then decreases quickly. 12 year old girls are taller and heavier than boys but at 15 years the relationship is reversed. The LBM at the age of 12 is equal in boys and girls, but from then till 18 years the increase is larger in boys. The LBM weight in adults remains steady, women attaining 77% of the value found in men. The skinfold increases with age similarly in both sexes, except for an interval between 12 and 18 years, when girls show a steeper increase. Adult women attain 121--160% of the values characteristic for men. The grip strength of the right hand equals about 50 kp in adult men and 30 kp in adult women. Within the age range followed, it remains unaffected by age.