Smoking, smoking cessation and aortic arch calcification in older Chinese: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.
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 men (<23.5 pack-years) but showed no beneficial effect (p=0.72) for heavy ex-smokers (>or=23.5 pack-years).


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Jiang
Chao Qiang
CQ
Guangzhou No. 12 Hospital (Guangzhou Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment Centre), Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Lao
Xiang Qian
XQ
Yin
Peng
P
Thomas
G Neil
GN
Zhang
Wei Sen
WS
Liu
Bin
B
Adab
Peymane
P
Lam
Tai Hing
TH
Cheng
Kar Keung
KK
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*