Smoking and mortality among persons aged 75-94

Examine the effect of current level of smoking and lifetime tobacco consumption on mortality in persons 75-94 years of age.

Data were from a representative sample of older Jewish persons in Israel, which included 1,200 self-respondent participants aged 75-94 (Mean=83.1, SD=5.3) from the Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study (CALAS). Data collection took place during 1989-1992. Mortality data on 95.1% of the sample at 20-year follow up were recorded from the Israeli National Population Registry.

The following variables adversely affected mortality for the whole sample: Smoking 11-20 cigarettes daily (HR=1.276, p<.05), smoking over 20 cigarettes daily (HR=1.328, p<.05), total tobacco consumption (HR=1.002, p<.01), and heavy lifetime tobacco consumption (HR=1.270, p<.01). Results were similar for persons aged 75-84, but the effect of smoking seems to decrease or disappear for ages 85 and above.

This is the first report of all-cause mortality risk in both genders of a representative population aged 75 and over. Increased mortality risk is related to high daily quantity of current smoking, and to cumulative amount of lifetime smoking. The effect of smoking may disappear for ages 85 and above, and should be studied in larger oldest-old samples.