Smoking status and its effect on blood pressure: A study on medical students

• Published in: Chrismed journal of health and research 2017-01, Vol.4 (1), p.14-18
• Main Authors: Jena, Sunil, Purohit, Kanhu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiovascular disease; cigarette smoking; hypertension; medical students
• ISSN: 2348-3334; 2348-506X
• DOI: 10.4103/2348-3334.196034

Background: Hypertension is a potent modifiable risk factor to develop various cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. Cigarette smoking is one of the risk factors of hypertension. Materials and Methods: This was a case-control study, in which young smokers were selected as case and young nonsmokers were as control. A total 111 male MBBS students were selected, divided into two groups - smoker and nonsmoker. Smoker group included 63 current cigarette smokers and 48 nonsmokers. All participants were within 20-25 years of age. Blood pressure (BP) was recorded in the morning between 7 and 8 am by auscultatory method. Results: Minimum and maximum duration of cigarette smoking were 1 year and 13 years. Minimum and maximum number of cigarettes smoke per day were 2 and 12. Minimum and maximum pack year of smoking were 0.1 and 3.3. Mean systolic BP of smoker was 134 ± 10.6 mmHg and nonsmoker was 117 ± 7.5 mmHg. Mean diastolic BP of smoker was 84 ± 7.6 mmHg and nonsmoker was 80 ± 7.5 mmHg. Mean pulse pressure of smoker was 49.9 ± 7.3 mmHg and nonsmoker was 36.7 ± 6.5 mmHg. Among the smokers, only 6.35% were normotensive, 61.9% were prehypertensive, and 31.75% were hypertensive. Conclusion: This study suggested that even short duration of smoking with low pack year can increase BP if not prevented may lead to various cardiovascular diseases. Thus, young adults, the future of country should be motivated to avoid smoking for healthy life.