title: Can the declining prevalence of left-handedness with age be due to smoking?
abstract: The objective of this study was to assess whether smoking habits can explain the decline in left-handedness prevalence with age. Subjects participating in a population-based survey (n = 3,071) in Geneva, Switzerland, completed a questionnaire on innate hand preference, current hand preference for writing and smoking habits. The prevalence of innate left-handedness in the Geneva population was 9.4% in men and 7.4% in women. There was no association between smoking and left-handedness. It is concluded that smoking is not associated with hand preference and is an unlikely cause of overmortality in left-handed subjects.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 24 rue Micheli du Crest, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. bruna.galobardes@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Galobardes
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morabia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology