Smoking and epilepsy in national health interview survey: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to examine the association between smoking and epilepsy in a nationwide cross-sectional analysis of US adults.

Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted between 2021 and 2022 were utilized, encompassing 57,088 participants aged 18-85 years with documented tobacco usage and self-reported epilepsy. Logistic regression models were employed to evaluate the relationship between smoking and epilepsy. The assessment of tobacco usage encompassed smoking status, cigarette smoking, pipe-filled tobacco smoking, and smokeless tobacco usage.

The overall prevalence of self-reported epilepsy in the sample was 1.76%, with smokers constituting 46.03% of cases. Individuals with epilepsy exhibited higher smoking rates compared to those without epilepsy. In the multivariate logistic regression model, smoking demonstrated a significant association with self-reported epilepsy (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.07-1.47, P = 0.005). Subsequent stratified analyses showed consistent associations between smoking and self-reported epilepsy in all sex and ethnic subgroups.

Our findings suggest that smoking is independently associated with self-reported epilepsy among US adults. Further investigation into the biological mechanisms underlying this association is warranted, contingent upon the validation of these results in an external population.