The smoking habits of men with intermittent claudication

Smoking habits among 54 male patients with intermittent claudication (IC) and 200 healthy 50-year-old men from the same county have been studied. The prevalence of smokers at the age of 50 was 98% among the IC patients against 46% among the healthy controls. The percentage of heavy smokers and the total tobacco consumptiion were not significantly different in the two groups. However, the percentage of smokers who began to smoke before the age of 15 was significantly higher in IC patients than in the healthy group, 28% to 7%.