TITLE:
Contemporary female smokers in the us are younger and of lower socioeconomic status
AUTHORS:
Jennifer L. Jarvie, Yun Wang, Caitlin E. Johnson, JoAnne M. Foody
KEYWORDS:
Cigarette Smoking; Cardiovascular Risk Factors; Women; Prevention
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.3 No.6,
June
21,
2011
ABSTRACT: Smoking is the most common cause of prema-ture cardiovascular disease in women, but con-temporary data is lacking. We sought to inves-tigate the differences between female smokers and nonsmokers in the US. Methods: Using a registry of almost 19,000 women who attended free public heart screenings sponsored by Sis-ter to Sister between 2008 and 2009 in 17 large US cities, we compared the means for lipid val-ues, cardiometabolic measures, and differences in sociodemographic information between smok-ers and nonsmokers. Secondary outcomes were age and race-adjusted odds for obesity, the metabolic syndrome, hypertension, a non-HDL > 160 mg/dl, and a serum glucose ≥ 126 mg/dl between smoking and nonsmoking women. Results: The final sample included 18,892 women (49.8 ± 14.3 years, 37% black, and 32% white, 14% Hispanic), with 1,216 (6.4%) current smokers. Smokers were younger than non-smokers (45.6 ± 13.0 vs 50.1 ± 14.4 years, p 160 mg/dl (OR 1.19; 1.01 - 1.39). Insurance and income data showed a sig-nificant inverse relationship between smoking prevalence and increasing household income. Conclusions: In this richly diverse sample of women, female smokers were younger and of lower socioeconomic status than nonsmokers with significant differences in cardiometabolic risk factors.