A study analyzing data from over 500,000 adults found smokers who quit before age 35 have similar mortality rates to those who never smoked at all. Photo credit: Susanne Nilsson, Creative Commons
Smokers who quit before age 35 have similar mortality rates to those who never smoked at all, says a new study.
Those who stopped smoking at later ages had higher mortality rates than those who quit before they reached 35 years old. Former smokers who quit between ages 35-44 had a 21% greater incidence of mortality from any cause. And compared to never smokers, those who gave up between the ages of 45- 54 had a 47% higher all-cause mortality rate.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed data from the US National Health Interview Survey and the National Death Index, surveying data from more than 550,000 adults who completed questionnaires between January 1997-December 2018 and were between 25-84 years old at the time of recruitment.
The highest all-cause death rate was seen among non-Hispanic white smokers, which was three times higher than that of never smokers.
Smokers who were non-white, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic people, had mortality rates that were slightly lower but still almost twice as high as never smokers.
This could be explained by the fact that, when compared to white participants, these participants reported smoking on average fewer cigarettes per day, starting later in life, and being less likely to smoke every day.