Smoking-related Symptoms Research Articles

Teen smoking and asthma: Helping them quit!

Today, a smaller percentage of American teens smoke than did 20 years ago. However, smoking remains a significant public health problem among teenagers. Smoking can be hazardous to anyone's health, but it presents particular dangers for teenagers with asthma. Tobacco smoke is a potent trigger of asthma even when it is someone else doing the smoking nearby. When a person with asthma is the smoker, it can be a constant aggravating factor and acute trigger of asthma symptoms. Unfortunately, teen smokers tend to disregard long-term risks of smoking and may fail to recognize immediate smoking-related symptoms.

Smoking cessation attempts in relation to prior health care charges: the effect of antecedent smoking-related symptoms?

We hypothesize that elevated charges among former smokers reflect differential cessation of sicker individuals. We ascertained the relationship between prior health care charges and time to smoking cessation. Prospective, observational study using panel survey data and administrative health plan records. A large managed care organization in Minnesota. A stratified random sample of 8000 health plan members 40 years and older, yielding 611 current smokers at baseline. Smoking cessation measured via self-report survey. Health care charges, mortality, and disenrollment data derived from automated health plan databases. Among smoking adults without chronic disease diagnoses at baseline, a first attempt at quitting smoking was positively associated with the presence of any inpatient charges (relative risk [RR], 1.9; p < .05) or any emergency department or urgent care charges (RR, 1.4; p < .10). We also observed positive associations between total charges and ambulatory charges in the top textile (RR, 1.5 and 1.6, respectively; p < .05) with a first attempt at quitting smoking, further suggesting graded relationships. Among smoking adults with one or more of four chronic disease diagnoses at baseline, being in the top two tertiles of total charges or ambulatory care charges was predictive of a subsequent attempt at quitting smoking. Higher health care charges, particularly from ambulatory (primary care clinic) settings, predicted smoking cessation among both individuals with and without chronic diseases. These charges may be proxies for other factors, such as smoking-related symptoms or physician advice or messaging regarding smoking cessation.

General practitioners' perceived barriers to smoking cessation - results from four Nordic countries

Aims: Studies indicate that doctors may be reluctant to discuss smoking with their patients. Knowledge about how this problem might be solved is limited. The aim of this study was to identify barriers for engaging in tobacco prevention in general practice. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was mailed to 3,167 randomly selected general practitioners (GPs) in Sweden Norway, Finland, and Iceland. The questionnaire identified practice and barriers for the discussion of smoking and smoking cessation with patients and the GPs' own smoking behaviour. Results: The overall response rate was 67%. A large majority of the GPs perceived the discussion of patients' smoking habits as part of their job. However, most GPs did not enquire about smoking unless the patient had smoking-related symptoms and few engaged in smoking cessation support. Many GPs felt that smoking cessation support was too time consuming and that the time spent was not effective because few patients quit. Shortage of smoking cessation experts to whom patients could be referred was the most common barrier for systematic involvement in smoking cessation support. On average, GPs had spent approximately one hour during the previous month on smoking cessation support. Conclusion: The main barriers identified in this study indicate that smoking cessation expertise needs to be more accessible. One alternative is to establish telephone help-lines (Quit-lines) that are easily available for all and could serve as a back-up for the GPs. Another more costly approach is to develop smoking cessation expertise at major clinics. A combination of both is probably the best solution.

Hábito tabáquico de la población de la provincia de granada

The aims of this study are to reveal the prevalence of smoking habit amongst the residents in the Granada province and to study some components of the general attitude towards the tobacco habit. The study was a cross-sectional design which is the result of a survey based on a sample of 1537 subjects (all of them being 16 years or over and residents in this province). The participants were chosen by stratified sampling which was realized in two stages: the units of the first stage were censual sections and the second ones were usual family houses. The percentage of smokers was 51.8% male and 17.5% female. The ex-smokers' prevalence was 11.1% (19.0% and men and 3.4% women). 32.5% smokers and 75.0% ex-smokers identified tobacco as a health problem. 45% of smokers had attempted to drop tobacco one or more times. The most frequent motive being the diagnosis of disease or the smoking-related symptoms. This study has revealed the high prevalence of the smoking habit in the province of Granada.

Ethnicity and Smoking: Differences in White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian Medical Patients Who Smoke

To describe differences in the attitudes and behaviors of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian medical patients who smoke, we surveyed 2,835 patients of primary care physicians who participated in a controlled trial on smoking cessation. White smokers smoked more cigarettes per day, were more addicted to cigarettes, had more smoking-related symptoms and illnesses, and were more likely to relate smoking to their symptoms and illnesses. Black smokers found less pleasure in smoking, expressed the least concern about the health risks of smoking, but reported the greatest desire to quit and most confidence that they could quit. Hispanic and Asian smokers more often wanted to quit to keep their children from being exposed to smoking. We conclude that a single approach to helping patients quit smoking is less likely to be effective than one tailored to the ethnic differences among those patients.

The Older Smoker: Status, Challenges and Opportunities for Intervention

Smoking is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among older adults. Cessation of smoking benefits older adults almost immediately. Little is known, however, about how older adults quit and how to help them. No smoking cessation programs have been designed for this population. Here we report the findings of a random survey of American Association of Retired Persons members conducted to learn more about older smokers, their smoking and health characteristics, their quitting motivations and experiences, and the role of physicians' advice to quit. We obtained data on 339 current smokers aged 50 to 102. Current smokers were more likely to be heavy, highly addicted smokers. They also reported more smoking-related symptoms and conditions and fewer preventive tests and check-ups than never-smokers or former smokers. Although 44 percent of smokers were interested in quitting, only 39 percent reported that they had been advised to stop smoking by their physicians in the previous year. Physicians who treat older patients can have a significant impact on helping them to stop smoking by giving them a strong recommendation to quit and by providing appropriate interventions.

Cigarette Smoking and Chest Pain

Analysis of questionnaire responses of 70208 persons undergoing multiphasic health checkups showed a greater proportion of cigarette smokers than nonsmokers (excesses averaging 1.6-fold in white men, 1.3-fold in white women) admitting to nine types of chest pain. This excess in smokers was greater in younger individuals, and applied about equally to anginalike and nonanginalike pain. The smoking/chest pain association was not explained by greater alcohol or coffee consumption, diminished pain tolerance, or less reliability among smokers; nor did it appear to be mediated chiefly by excess cough, shortness of breath, coronary disease, or musculoskeletal complaints in smokers. Although smokers averaged more complaints than nonsmokers, chest pain resembled clearly smoking-related symptoms, such as cough, when the number of each subject's complaints was considered. Although more smokers had chest pain no type of pain was unique to smokers, suggesting that the "tobacco angina" concept be discarded or reserved for rare patients with coronary heart disease in whom smoking clearly provokes angina pectoris.