Journal
ATHEROSCLEROSIS
Volume 202, Issue 2, Pages 529-534Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2008.03.004
Keywords
Smoking; Smoking cessation; Aortic arch calcification; Chinese
Funding
- The University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research, Hong Kong
- the Guangzhou Public Health Bureau
- Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau, Guangzhou, China
- The University of Birmingham, UK
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Objective: To study the association between smoking, smoking cessation and aortic arc calcification (AAC) in an older Chinese population. Methods: A total of 3022 men and 7279 women aged 50-85 years were recruited and received a medical check-up including measurement of fasting plasma vascular risk factors. Two radiologists reviewed the posterior-anterior plain chest X-ray radiographs and assessed AAC together. Information on smoking status, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was collected. Results: The crude prevalence of AAC in men (38.58%) was lower than that in women (41.37%). The adjusted odds ratios of AAC increased significantly across never, ex- and current smokers in both genders. Dose-response relationships were observed among current smokers for smoking amount (cigarettes/day), smoking duration (years) and cigarette pack-years in both genders (all p<0.01). The odds ratios decreased significantly (p=0.018) with longer duration of quitting in light ex-smoking then (<23.5 pack-years) but showed no beneficial effect (p=0.72) for heavy ex-smokers (>23.5 pack-years). Conclusion: Smoking increased the risk of AAC in Chinese, while smoking cessation decreased the risk only in male light ex-smokers. Chest X-ray is a cheap and simple method to detect AAC, which should be an important warning signal for immediate smoking cessation. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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