Cardiovascular disease: many patients continue to smoke despite the risks

Many smokers with cardiovascular disease continue to use tobacco despite the risk, probably due to lack of information, according to a study published in the journal "BMC Public Health."

Few studies have determined the proportion of people continue to smoke after being diagnosed with cardiovascular disorder. A Finnish study conducted in 1997 showed that the proportion of smokers shows identical within a hypertensive population and the general population.

John Ulrich, University of Greifswald (Germany), and colleagues sought to estimate the number of smokers among people with cardiovascular disorders.

This study was conducted among 3,778 current or former smokers, aged 18 to 79 years were invited to complete a questionnaire about their history of heart disease (hypertension, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, stroke, cardiac arrest, venous thrombosis, etc. .).

From the results collected, 52.1% of participants with knowledge that they were suffering from cardiovascular disease reported continued smoking. Among those with at least three cardiovascular disorders, 28% reported smoking.

A lack of proper guidance is the cause of this situation. Only 3.4% of smokers reported having received information and advice on stopping smoking in the twelve months preceding the start of the study.

These results suggest that only a small proportion of smokers with cardiovascular disease is encouraged to stop smoking. The brakes responsible for the lack of smoking cessation among these smokers at risk should be explored, the authors note in their conclusion.