Background characteristics according to smoking status at second examination for the pooled study population
| Demographics | Never smokers n=4014 | Ex-smokers n=2929 | Quitters n=1379 | Light smokers n=3520 | Reducers (50%) n=643 | Heavy smokers n=6938 | p Value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results are presented as absolute values, percentages, or means with standard deviation in parentheses. | |||||||
| *p Values represent differences between the reducers and the continuous heavy smokers. | |||||||
| †Two sample t tests. All other are χ2 with two tailed p values. | |||||||
| ‡Results only from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, 3rd survey 1991–93, n=7016. HDL: high density level. | |||||||
| Myocardial infarctions (n) | 246 | 334 | 191 | 397 | 118 | 841 | |
| Sex (% men) | 33.6 | 65.8 | 60.6 | 46.7 | 79.0 | 67.8 | 0.001 |
| Age (y) | 55.2 (12.5) | 57.0 (10.6) | 56.5 (11.5) | 56.1 (11.2) | 56.1 (10.1) | 52.9 (9.7) | <0.001† |
| Tobacco consumption (g/day) | – | – | – | 8.3 (3.3) | 10.5 (4.5) | 22.2 (8.7) | <0.001† |
| Inhalers (%) | – | – | – | 65.1 | 69.6 | 80.4 | <0.001 |
| Type of tobacco smoked | |||||||
| Cigarettes only (%) | – | – | – | 73.3 | 49.2 | 62.0 | <0.001 |
| Cigars, cheroots, pipe or mixed (%) | – | – | – | 26.7 | 50.8 | 38.0 | <0.001 |
| Duration of smoking (y) | – | – | 19.4 (18.1) | 14.0 (8.4) | 27.0 (20.9) | 30.9 (19.3) | <0.001† |
| Expired carbon monoxide (ppm)‡ | 2.2 (1.3) | 2.4 (2.2) | 4.0 (5.9) | 8.4 (7.7) | 8.7 (8.1) | 13.2 (10.0) | <0.001† |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25.6 (4.2) | 26.2 (4.3) | 26.1 (4.1) | 24.6 (4.0) | 25.2 (3.8) | 25.2 (3.9) | 0.89† |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 136.4 (22.1) | 138.1 (22.2) | 137.8 (23.1) | 134.7 (21.7) | 133.2 (22.4) | 131.8 (21.2) | 0.12† |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 83.4 (11.8) | 83.9 (12.4) | 82.6 (13.1) | 81.2 (11.9) | 78.8 (13.3) | 80.7 (13.0) | 0.001† |
| Plasma total cholesterol (mmol/l) | 6.08 (1.24) | 6.16 (1.19) | 6.10 (1.24) | 6.08 (1.18) | 6.19 (1.24) | 6.09 (1.16) | 0.08† |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.28 (0.59) | 1.27 (0.44) | 1.23 (0.46) | 1.23 (0.46) | 1.24 (0.41) | 1.23 (0.59) | 0.56† |
| Number (%) with diabetes | 69 (1.9) | 98 (3.8) | 38 (3.2) | 64 (2.0) | 7 (1.4) | 130 (2.4) | 0.14 |
| Number (%) physically inactive | 783 (19.6) | 465 (16.0) | 263 (19.3) | 623 (17.9) | 122 (19.4) | 1522 (23.7) | 0.02 |
| Number (%) with <8 y education | 1673 (42.9) | 1205 (44.0) | 577 (45.5) | 1653 (49.2) | 310 (57.5) | 2898 (49.3) | 0.001 |
| Number (%) with alcohol consumption >27 drinks/week | 124 (3.2) | 236 (8.5) | 110 (8.5) | 158 (4.7) | 64 (11.6) | 884 (14.8) | 0.13 |