Likelihood of smoking cessation after cardiovascular event varies by event type
Patients who had had a myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting, stroke, or transient ischemic attack were more likely to quit smoking than those who underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention or had a new diagnosis of peripheral artery disease.
Smoking cessation rates after an atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) event vary by event type, a recent study found.
Researchers used 2013-2018 data from a U.S. outpatient cardiac registry to identify patients who currently smoked at a clinic visit and follow them for subsequent ASCVD events. At each consecutive visit, self-reported smoking status was used to determine cessation of smoking after interim ASCVD events (myocardial infarction [MI], percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI], coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], stroke/transient ischemic attack [TIA], and peripheral artery disease [PAD]). The goal of the study was to determine the effect of each type of ASCVD event on smoking cessation rates. The results were published Feb. 6 by Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
A total of 1,933,283 patients who currently smoked were included in the study. The mean age was 62 years, 54% were men, and 50% had ASCVD at baseline. Overall, 322,743 patients had an interim ASCVD event and were still smoking. Of these, 41,336 (12.8%) quit smoking by the next visit, with higher cessation rates among those who had baseline ASCVD versus those who did not (13.4% vs. 11.5%). Smoking cessation was more likely among patients who had an MI or underwent CABG or had a stroke or TIA than among those who had elective PCI or a new PAD diagnosis.
The authors acknowledged that smoking status was self-reported and that data on socioeconomic status and education weren't available, among other limitations. They concluded that smoking cessation rates remained low after an ASCVD event but that any ASCVD event was associated with a greater likelihood of quitting, especially MI, CABG, and stroke or TIA. "These findings can help inform the development of patient-centered smoking cessation interventions that can be targeted to the type of ASCVD event," they wrote.