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Associations Between Smoking Status and Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life Among Individuals With Mobility Impairments

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In the general population, quitting smoking is associated with improved health-related quality of life (QoL), but this association has not been examined in smokers with chronic mobility impairments (MIs). PURPOSE: We examined associations between smoking status and health-related QoL over 6 months, and whether relationships are moderated by depression and MI severity. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a smoking cessation induction trial among smokers with MIs (n = 241, 56% female, 36% Black) assessed at baseline, and 4 and 6 months after. Participants were grouped into "Smokers" (smoking at 4 and 6 months), "Abstainers" (quit at 4 and 6 months), "Relapsers" (relapsed at 6 months), and "Late-quitters" (quit at 6 months). Physical and mental health-related QoL was assessed with the Short-Form Health Survey. Depression was defined as scores ≥10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire, and MI severity by the use of skilled care for personal needs. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models. RESULTS: Aggregating across time, among nondepressed participants, compared with "Smokers," the "Abstainer," and "Late-quitter" groups improved their physical health scores. "Late-quitters" also improved compared with "Relapsers." Among the total sample, compared with "Smokers," "Abstainers" showed improvements in mental health scores overtime, whereas "Relapsers" improved their score at 4 months, and "Late-quitters" improved at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Quitting smoking is associated with improvements in physical health-related QoL regardless of the severity of MI but only among those without depression at baseline. For mental health-related QoL, associations with quitting smoking were independent of baseline depression and severity of MI.

Source: Annals of Behavioral Medicine

DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaab077

Authors: Romano Endrighi, Yihong Zhao, Rosemary B Hughes, Deepak Kumar, Belinda Borrelli

Institutions: Boston University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of Montana

Language: English

Topic: Smoking Behavior and Cessation

Subfield: Physiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases