Contemporary female smokers in the us are younger and of lower socioeconomic status

Abstract

Smoking is the most common cause of prema-ture cardiovascular disease in women, but con-temporary data is lacking. We sought to inves-tigate the differences between female smokers and nonsmokers in the US. Methods: Using a registry of almost 19,000 women who attended free public heart screenings sponsored by Sis-ter to Sister between 2008 and 2009 in 17 large US cities, we compared the means for lipid val-ues, cardiometabolic measures, and differences in sociodemographic information between smok-ers and nonsmokers. Secondary outcomes were age and race-adjusted odds for obesity, the metabolic syndrome, hypertension, a non-HDL > 160 mg/dl, and a serum glucose ≥ 126 mg/dl between smoking and nonsmoking women. Results: The final sample included 18,892 women (49.8 ± 14.3 years, 37% black, and 32% white, 14% Hispanic), with 1,216 (6.4%) current smokers. Smokers were younger than non-smokers (45.6 ± 13.0 vs 50.1 ± 14.4 years, p < 0.001), with lower HDL levels (55.5 ± 17.4 vs 58.6 ± 17.4, p < 0.001), and higher triglycerides (148.8 ± 103.7 vs 145.5 ± 93, p = 0.4082). There were no significant differences in LDL between smokers versus nonsmokers. There were more black and white women in the smoking group. Smoking women were more likely to meet criteria for the metabolic syndrome (OR 1.22; 95% CI 1.00 - 1.49) and have a non-HDL > 160 mg/dl (OR 1.19; 1.01 - 1.39). Insurance and income data showed a sig-nificant inverse relationship between smoking prevalence and increasing household income. Conclusions: In this richly diverse sample of women, female smokers were younger and of lower socioeconomic status than nonsmokers with significant differences in cardiometabolic risk factors.