title: Life gain in Italian smokers who quit.
abstract: This study aims to estimate the number of life years gained with quitting smoking in Italian smokers of both sexes, by number of cigarettes smoked per day (cig/day) and age at cessation. All-cause mortality tables by age, sex and smoking status were computed, based on Italian smoking data, and the survival curves of former and current smokers were compared. The more cig/day a man/woman smokes, and the younger his/her age of quitting smoking, the more years of life he/she gains with cessation. In fact, cessation at age 30, 40, 50, or 60 years gained, respectively, about 7, 7, 6, or 5, and 5, 5, 4, or 3 years of life, respectively, for men and women that smoked 10-19 cig/day. The gain in life years was higher for heavy smokers (9 years for >20 cig/day) and lower for light smokers (4 years for 1-9 cig/day). Consistently with prospective studies conducted worldwide, quitting smoking increases life expectancy regardless of age, gender and number of cig/day. The estimates of the number of years of life that could be gained by quitting smoking, when computed specifically for a single smoker, could be used by physicians and health professionals to promote a quit attempt.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Unit, CardioThoracic and Vascular Department, University Hospital of Pisa, via Paradisa 2, Cisanello, Pisa 56124, Italy. viegig@ifc.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carrozzi
authors.affiliation: Italian Association of Hospital Pulmonologists (AIPO) Research,Via Antonio Da Recanate, 2, Milan 20124, Italy. franco.falcone@aiporicerche.it.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Falcone
authors.affiliation: Unit of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (ISPO), via delle Oblate 2, Florence 50139, Italy. g.carreras@ispo.toscana.it.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carreras
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Unit, CardioThoracic and Vascular Department, University Hospital of Pisa, via Paradisa 2, Cisanello, Pisa 56124, Italy. viegig@ifc.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pistelli
authors.affiliation: Unit of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (ISPO), via delle Oblate 2, Florence 50139, Italy. g.gorini@ispo.toscana.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gorini
authors.affiliation: Unit of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (ISPO), via delle Oblate 2, Florence 50139, Italy. a.martini@ispo.toscana.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martini
authors.affiliation: Unit of Pulmonary Environmental Epidemiology, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Italian National Research Council (IFC-CNR), via Trieste 41, Pisa 56126, Italy. viegig@ifc.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Viegi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D016540:Smoking Cessation