title: Smoking and asthma in adults.
abstract: Studies on the effect of smoking on adulthood asthma have provided contradictory results. The current authors conducted a population-based incident case-control study to assess the effects of current and past smoking on the development of asthma in adults. During a 2.5 yr study period, all new asthma cases clinically diagnosed (n=521) and randomly selected controls (n=932) from a geographically defined district in southern Finland were recruited. The risk of developing asthma was significantly higher among current smokers with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.33 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.77) and among ex-smokers with an adjusted OR 1.49 (1.12-1.97) compared with never-smokers. Among current smokers, the risk increased up to 14 cigarettes x day(-1), and a similar trend was observed in relation to cumulative smoking. In conclusion, the current results support the hypothesis that smoking causes asthma in adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piipari
authors.forename: J J K
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jaakkola
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jaakkola
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jaakkola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016540:Smoking Cessation