The impact of smoking status on 9.3 years incidence of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality among Iranian men.

AIM: To examine the association of different smoking groups with cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart diseases (CHD) and CVD attributed death and death due to all causes in a male Tehranian population.

METHODS: From a population-based study 3059 male individuals, aged ≥30 years, free of CVD at baseline were evaluated for a median of 9.3 years. The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for incident CVD/CHD, total and CVD mortality regarding their smoking status were calculated using Cox proportional regression analysis, considering never smoking as reference.

RESULTS: A total of 158 deaths, in which 78 were CVD attributable, occurred. Considering CVD and CHD events, this study identified 299 and 257 events, respectively. Being a past smoker significantly increased the risk of CVD events (HR = 2.42, CI = 1.28-0.56), however, it has no effect on CHD events, total and CVD mortality. Being a current smoker (more than 10 cigarettes a day) dramatically increased the risk of CVD/CHD events and total/CVD mortality. However, smoking less than 10 cigarettes per day only increased the risk of CVD (HR = 2.12, CI = 1.14-3.95) and its mortality (HR = 4.57, CI = 1.32-15.79).

CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that smoking increases the risk of incident CVD/CHD, total and CVD mortality, particularly CVD mortality. These outcomes were attributable to the daily amount of cigarettes smoked. Past smokers still had higher risk for CVD events, which cessation may not reduce.