Participating in Smoking Cessation Program Can Prolong Life

NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release

Contact: Jonell Rusinko, Academic Health Center, 612-624-5680
             Sara E. Buss, Academic Health Center, 612-624-2449

U OF M RESEARCH SHOWS SMOKING CESSATION
PROGRAM PARTICIPATION CAN PROLONG LIFE

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (Feb. 15, 2005) -- University of Minnesota researchers found that middle-aged smokers who participated in a smoking cessation program had a lower death rate than those who did not, even if they did not end up kicking the habit.

The study followed 5,887 middle-aged smokers with mild lung disease; some were assigned to quit-smoking programs, and others received usual care. The death rate for the people assigned to the program was 15 percent lower than the rate for the group receiving usual care, despite the fact that only about 20 percent quit smoking completely.  The people in the study who quit completely fared the best, with a 46 percent lower death rate than those who continued to smoke.

The research will be published in the Feb. 15, 2005, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings were based on data from the Lung Health Study. 

The study, “The Effects of a Smoking Cessation Intervention on 14.5-year Mortality,” is the first experimental study to show that stopping smoking adds years to life. Previous studies linking smoking to death from specific diseases, such as lung cancer and heart disease, were based on observation rather than on experiment.

“Since only about 20 percent of people quit smoking, one may think that the program was not working. People quit, restarted, and quit again,” said John E. Connett, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics with the University’s School of Public Health. “However, quitting had such a statistically large impact on the overall population that even though many people quit and started smoking again, as long as they were smoke-free for periods of time, they had better outcomes than those who continued to smoke.”

The participants in the study all had mild lung disease, which itself increases risk for more serious lung disease in the future.

Connett said the reduction in death rate was more significant in younger people, ages 35 to 45, than older people.

“Current guidelines suggest that smokers over age 45 should be screened, but our study found that younger people have more to gain from being screened than older people,” he said. “Young people who are found to have abnormal lung function should be put into an aggressive quit-smoking program.” 

The Academic Health Center is home to the University of Minnesota’s six health professional schools and colleges as well as several health-related centers and institutes. Founded in 1851, the University is one of the oldest and largest land grant institutions in the country. The AHC prepares the new health professionals who improve the health of communities, discover and deliver new treatments and cures, and strengthen the health economy.

—end—