Table 1.
Characteristics of NIH-AARP Participants, Aged Over 70y, Who Completed the 2004–2005 Questionnaire Stratified by Smoking Status
| Former smokers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Never smokers | Quit <60y | Quit >60y | Current smokers |
| n (%) | 60,973 (38.1) | 81,137 (50.7) | 8,412 (5.3) | 9,591 (6.0) |
| Demographic variables | ||||
| Mean age (y)a | 74.7 (2.6) | 74.6 (2.6) | 74.9 (2.6) | 74.6 (2.6) |
| Sex (% female) | 51.6 | 31.5 | 43.1 | 50.9 |
| Education level (% college or higher) |
75.0 | 77.6 | 73.5 | 70.7 |
| Race (% non-Hispanic white) | 92.1 | 93.9 | 93.7 | 92.1 |
| Marital status (% married) | 66.6 | 74.1 | 62.6 | 53.5 |
| Overall health (% fair/poor) | 13.2 | 16.6 | 25.3 | 24.6 |
| Age at initiation (% started 15– 19y) |
0.0 | 19.0 | 21.0 | 22.0 |
| Lifetime pack-years | -- | 21.0 (20.0) | 44.6 (27.6) | 42.3 (25.6) |
| Pack-years prior to 70y | -- | 21.0 (20.0) | 44.6 (27.6) | 38.8 (23.8) |
| Alcohol use (grams/day) | 0.5 (1.7) | 1.1 (2.7) | 1.3 (3.1) | 1.4 (3.5) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.5 (4.9) | 26.9 (4.6) | 26.9 (4.9) | 25.2 (4.7) |
| Total activity time (minutes/day) | 25.2 (32.9) | 27.2 (34.3) | 21.3 (29.6) | 17.1 (27.9) |
| Mortality, n (%) | ||||
| All cause | 7,378 (12.1) | 14,957 (18.4) | 2,343 (27.9) | 3,175 (33.1) |
| Lung cancer | 180 (0.3) | 1,464 (1.8) | 375 (4.5) | 630 (6.6) |
| Other smoking cancerb | 357 (0.6) | 821 (1.0) | 88 (1.1) | 148 (1.5) |
| Respiratory infection | 257 (0.4) | 1,299 (1.6) | 394 (4.7) | 540 (5.6) |
| Heart disease | 2,072 (3.4) | 4,015 (5.0) | 565 (6.7) | 722 (7.5) |
| Stroke | 455 (0.8) | 698 (0.9) | 84 (1.0) | 132 (1.4) |
| Previous condition, n (%) | ||||
| Hypertension | 33,502 (58.2) | 47,300 (61.5) | 4,930 (62.0) | 5,070 (55.9) |
| COPD | 2,567 (4.8) | 7,390 (5.2) | 1,866 (24.7) | 2,233 (25.7) |
| Cancer | 17,537 (32.3) | 26,263 (36.1) | 2,698 (35.4) | 2,942 (33.4) |
| Stroke | 2,227 (4.1) | 3,635 (4.9) | 534 (7.1) | 558 (6.4) |
| Heart attack | 10,408 (18.8) | 20,087 (27.0) | 2,203 (28.8) | 1,970 (22.6) |
a
Means are given (SD)
b
Other smoking cancers to include all other cancers determined by the Surgeon General’s report to be causally associated with cancer, including bladder, esophageal, stomach, head and neck, colorectal, kidney and renal pelvis, and pancreatic cancers, and acute myeloid leukemia.
NIH-AARP, National Institutes of Health-AARP Study; y, years; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases