[Active smoking: A major risk factor for human non-communicable diseases in a hospital survey]

Tobacco is the main preventable cause of death worldwide. Our study aimed to determine the role of tobacco in the occurrence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

We conducted a retrospective study including all NCDs patients during 2015-2016. NCDs include cardiovascular diseases (CVD), chronic respiratory diseases (CRD), cancers (CS) and diabetes mellitus (DM).

We identified 3643 cases of NCDs (43%) among 8478 hospitalizations, all diseases combined. Active smoking was found in 1076 cases (29.5%). Among the NCDs groups, CVD was the most common (65%). Tobacco was significantly associated with CVD (P<0.001), CRD (P=0.002), bronchopulmonary CS (P<0.001), haematological malignancy (P=0.023), and DM (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis performing binary logistic regression revealed that tobacco was an independent factor associated with CVD (OR=2.6, P<0.001), CRD (OR=1.5, P<0.001), bronchopulmonary CS (OR=1.8, P=0.013) and DM (OR=3.6, P<0.001).

Active smoking was a major risk factor in the occurrence of NCDs. Thus, smoking cessation represents the cornerstone for preventing the spread of these diseases, especially in countries with limited resources.