Home Cardiology Half of Individuals With MI at Age 50 or Younger Are Smokers

Half of Individuals With MI at Age 50 or Younger Are Smokers

Smoking cessation linked to reduced risk for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in this population

THURSDAY, July 9, 2020 (HealthDay News) — About half of individuals who experience a myocardial infarction at 50 years or younger are smokers, and among these individuals, smoking cessation is associated with a reduced risk for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, according to a study published online July 8 in JAMA Network Open.

David W. Biery, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues examined the prevalence of tobacco use and assessed the association of smoking and smoking cessation with survival among 2,072 adults who experienced an initial myocardial infarction at age 50 years or younger between January 2000 and April 2016.

The researchers found that 52.5 percent of the participants were smokers at the time of their index hospitalization. Of these, 37.7 and 62.3 percent of 910 participants were further classified into the cessation or persistent smoking groups at one year after myocardial infarction. Individuals who quit smoking had a statistically significantly reduced rate of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality during a median follow-up of 11.2 years (hazard ratios, 0.35 and 0.29, respectively). After propensity score adjustment, these values remained statistically significant (hazard ratios, 0.30 and 0.19, respectively).

“These findings reinforce the critical importance of smoking cessation, especially among those who experience an MI at a young age,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical and medical technology industries.

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