Respiratory Effects of Tobacco Smoking Among Young Adults

doi:10.1097/MAJ.0b013e31815c3b47

The American Journal of the Medical Sciences

Volume 336, Issue 1, July 2008, Pages 44-49

https://doi.org/10.1097/MAJ.0b013e31815c3b47 Get rights and content

ABSTRACT

Background

Respiratory symptoms associated with smoking habit seem to be age dependent. However, there are few reports about the effect of tobacco in young populations. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of smoking on respiratory symptoms and lung function in 23- to 25-year-old adults in Brazil. This study had a cross-sectional design and included 2063 young people in the city of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State.

Methods

Subjects completed a questionnaire used by the European Community Respiratory Health Survey and underwent spirometry and bronchial challenge test with methacholine. Multiple logistic regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were carried out to assess the association between smoking and respiratory symptoms, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁), and forced vital capacity (FVC), adjusted for confounding variables.

Results

Prevalence of smoking habit was 17.2% with consumption (median) of 10 cigarettes per day (interquartile range 3–20). There was a significant association between smoking and respiratory symptoms. Smoking was associated to wheezing with odds ratio (95%CI) of 6.11 (4.03–9.28) among those smoking ≥10 cigarettes per day and 3.36 (2.11–5.37) among those smoking <10 cigarettes per day. Associations were found for other respiratory symptoms. Smoking was associated with lower FEV₁/FVC ratio. No association was detected between smoking and FEV₁ or bronchial hyperresponsiveness.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the early health consequences of smoking among young adults. These results prompt the necessity to elaborate urgent programs to reduce tobacco habit in young populations.

Section snippets

Methods

This was a cross-sectional analysis of a sample with 2063 men and women (aged 23–25 years) randomly selected from a cohort of 6750 babies born during the years of 1978 and 1979 in Ribeirão Preto, a regional center in the Northeastern region of the S. Paulo state. The main economic activities are the sugar cane industry, trading, services, and financing. The number of inhabitants in the city of Ribeirão Preto is approximately 550,000. Data collection was done between 2002 and 2004. More data on

Results

The smoking prevalence was 17.2%. The median age of starting smoking was 16 years of age (interquartile range, 14–18 years) and median number of cigarettes smoked per subject was 10 (interquartile range, 3–20) cigarettes/day. Consumption and prevalence were different between genders, smokers were 20.8% (207/995) among men and 13.8% (148/1068) among women (P < 0.001) with median of 10 cigarettes per day (interquartile range, 5–20) for men and 6.5 for women (interquartile range, 3–15) (P = 0.01).

Discussion

The most striking finding in this study was the marked positive association between tobacco consumption and respiratory symptoms among young adults, which was more evident in those who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day. Smoking was associated to wheezing, cough, breathlessness, and morning phlegm from chest. The smoker group was not associated with bronchial hyperresponsiveness or obstruction, assessed by FEV₁. Although FEV₁/FVC ratio decreased in association with smoking, this finding could

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Critical age windows in the impact of lifetime smoking exposure on respiratory symptoms and disease among ever smokers
2018, Environmental Research
Citation Excerpt :
Although we find similar results for women too, our findings are not directly comparable as they fitted separate models for current and ex-smokers while we combined current/ex smokers in all our analysis. Besides, the study by Vianna and colleagues (Vianna et al., 2008) did not report findings by age of onset of smoking and respiratory outcomes although they used the Brazil sample from ECRHS. Moreover, neither of these studies examined the association between age of smoking onset and respiratory outcomes whilst mutually adjusting for early life exposure to smoking and pack-years separately by men and women.
Despite extensive knowledge of smoking effects on respiratory disease, there is no study including all age windows of exposure among ever smokers. The objective of this study was to assess the effects from smoking exposure in utero, early childhood, adolescence and adulthood on respiratory health outcomes in adult male and female ever smokers.
Respiratory health outcomes were assessed in 10,610 participants of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) I who reported a history of ever smoking by questionnaire. The associations of maternal smoking in utero, maternal smoking during childhood, age of smoking debut and pack-years of smoking with respiratory symptoms, obstructive diseases and bronchial hyperreactivity were analysed using generalized linear regression, non-linearity between age of smoking debut and outcomes were assessed by Generalized additive mixed models.
Respiratory symptoms and asthma were more frequent in adults if their mother smoked during pregnancy, and, in men, also if mother smoked in childhood. Wheeze and ≥3 respiratory symptoms declined with later smoking debut among women [≤10 years: OR = 3.51, 95% CI 1.26, 9.73; 11–12 years: 1.57[1.01–2.44]; 13–15 years: 1.11[0.94–1.32] and ≤10 years: 3.74[1.56–8.83]; 11–12 years: 1.76[1.19–2.56]; 13–15 years: 1.12[0.94–1.35], respectively]. Effects of increasing number of packyears were pronounced in women (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): OR/10 packyears women: 1.33 [1.18, 1.50], men: 1.14 [1.04, 1.26] p_interaction = 0.01).
Among ever smokers, smoking exposure in each stage of the lifespan show persistent harmful effects for adult respiratory health, while women appeared to be more vulnerable to an early age of smoking debut and amount of smoking in adulthood.
Acoustic rhinometry, spirometry and nitric oxide in relation to airway allergy and smoking habits in an adolescent cohort
2011, International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
Citation Excerpt :
Our results are in accordance with the two previous studies on nasal obstruction analyzed by acoustic rhinometry [5,6] and a recently published study [21] reporting a reduced mucosal decongestion in smokers. Signs of lower airway obstruction were found in adolescents with active smoking habits [22–25], which also is in agreement with our findings. Our study indicates that the very low exposure dose in adolescent smokers with occasional habits may result in a functional disorder with a reduced plasticity of the airways.
This study aimed to analyze upper and lower airway function and the impact of smoking habits in a cohort of allergic and healthy adolescents. The influence of smoking habits on the outcomes of rhinitis and asthma is well documented, but only few reports are available showing smoke related upper airway impairment by rhinometric measurements, and none with focus on early changes in adolescents.
A cohort followed from infancy was re-examined at the age of 18 years concerning allergy development. Acoustic rhinometry (VOL2), spirometry (FEV₁) and measurements of nitric oxide levels from the upper (nNO) and lower airways (eNO) were performed before and after physical exercise, and smoking habits were registered.
Active smoking habits were reported by 4/21 subjects suffering from allergic rhinitis, by 1/4 from probable allergic rhinitis, by 0/3 subjects with atopic dermatitis and by 2/10 healthy controls. Smoking habits were reported as daily by 2 and occasional by 5 of the 7 active smokers. VOL2 did not increase in smokers after exercise as in non-smokers, resulting in a post-exercise group difference (7.3 ± 1.1 cm³ vs. 8.8 ± 1.5 cm³; p = 0.02), and FEV₁ values were lower in smokers compared to non-smokers (89 ± 7% vs. 98 ± 8%; p = 0.02). The nNO and eNO levels were, however, only slightly reduced in smokers. Airway allergy was discerned only in subjects with current allergen exposure by increased eNO levels compared to healthy controls (41 ± 44 ppb vs. 13 ± 5 ppb). The levels of VOL2, nNO and FEV₁ did not differentiate allergic subjects from healthy controls.
Low levels of tobacco smoke exposure resulted in reduced airway functions in this adolescent cohort. Acoustic rhinometry and spirometry were found to be more sensitive methods compared to nitric oxide measurements in early detection of airway impairment related to smoke exposure. A possible difference in airway vulnerability between allergic and healthy subjects due to smoke exposure remains to be evaluated in larger study groups.
Exploring the impacts of smoking, nutrition and physical activity on pulmonary functions
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Cohort Profile: The 1978-79 Ribeirao Preto (Brazil) birth cohort study
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2021, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth
Effects of Smoking and Physical Activity on the Pulmonary Function of Young University Nursing Students in Cáceres (Spain)
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View all citing articles on Scopus

: This study was supported by FAPESP and CNPq, Brazil.

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ArticlesRespiratory Effects of Tobacco Smoking Among Young Adults

ABSTRACT

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Methods

Results

Discussion

Chest

Am J Med Sci

Am J Med Sci

Standards for the diagnosis and care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Am J Respir Crit Care Med

Prevalence of respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema in a Finnish rural population. Field survey of age group 40–64 in the Harjavalta area

Acta Tuberc Pneumonol Scand

Health effects of tobacco use and exposure

Monaldi Arch Chest Dis

Tobacco smoking and cancer: a brief review of recent epidemiological evidence

Lung Cancer

Epidemiological study on respiratory effects of smoking in college students

Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi

Health in early adulthood: the contribution of the 1978/79 Ribeirao Preto birth cohort

Braz J Med Biol Res

The European Community Respiratory Health Survey

Eur Respir J

Guidelines for methacholine and exercise challenge testing—1999 (Official statement of the American Thoracic Society)

Am J Respir Crit Care Med

The concept and measurement of race and their relationship to public health: a review focused on Brazil and the United States

Cad Saude Publica

Valores de referência para espirometria em uma amostra da população brasileira adulta

Jornal de Pneumologia

Articles
Respiratory Effects of Tobacco Smoking Among Young Adults