Smoking habit and mortality: a meta-analysis.

Pubmed ID: 19317324

Journal: Journal of insurance medicine (New York, N.Y.)

Publication Date: Jan. 1, 2008

Affiliation: Life Expectancy Project, 1439 17th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122-3402, USA. Shavelle@LifeExpectancy.org

MeSH Terms: Humans, Adult, Aged, United States, Middle Aged, Smoking, Life Expectancy, Mortality, Insurance, Life

Authors: Shavelle RM, Paculdo DR, Strauss DJ, Kush SJ

Cite As: Shavelle RM, Paculdo DR, Strauss DJ, Kush SJ. Smoking habit and mortality: a meta-analysis. J Insur Med 2008;40(3-4):170-8.

Studies:

Abstract

Cigarette smoking leads to excess mortality risk. Although it is well known that the risk increases with the number of pack-years of smoking--that is, how much a person smokes, or "habit"--there is apparently no published studies that organize and synthesize the evidence on this topic. This paper provides a meta-analysis of the latest published findings relating to cigarette smoking habit and excess mortality. A combined estimate of the relative risk (RR) of death for smokers, stratified by habit (light, medium, or heavy smoking), compared with non-smokers is provided.