Smoking and cognitive decline

The decline in cognitive functioning over a 7‐year period in long‐term regular smokers over the age of 50 was compared with that of lifelong non‐smokers. The data comes from the Health and Lifestyle Survey, a longitudinal study of a representative sample of adults living in private households in Eng...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human psychopharmacology 1997-09, Vol.12 (5), p.467-480
Main Authors: Whittington, Joyce E., Huppert, Felicia A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
memory
nicotine
reaction time
reasoning
smoking
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Summary:The decline in cognitive functioning over a 7‐year period in long‐term regular smokers over the age of 50 was compared with that of lifelong non‐smokers. The data comes from the Health and Lifestyle Survey, a longitudinal study of a representative sample of adults living in private households in England, Scotland and Wales. Four cognitive tests (memory, reasoning, simple reaction time and choice reaction time) were administered to participants in 1984–1985 and again in 1991–1992. Odds ratios for large falls in the respective scores of smokers relative to non‐smokers, adjusted for age, education and lung function, and with or without adjustment for baseline score, were calculated, separately for males and females. There were no significant differences between smokers and non‐smokers. For all adult smokers, change scores were not systematically related to time since they last smoked at the times of the tests. At baseline, cognitive scores of non‐smokers who became regular smokers did not differ from those of non‐smokers who remained non‐smokers. Proportionally more regular smokers than non‐smokers died in the 3 years following the second survey. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0885-6222
1099-1077
DOI:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1077(199709/10)12:5<467::AID-HUP908>3.0.CO;2-X