This paper explores how smoking among older smokers with a smoking-related illness is influenced by the wider cultural context of smoking. The paper draws upon a Scottish qualitative interview study to explore lifecourse changes in smoking-related beliefs and behaviours, in current smokers between the ages of 65 and 84 years with arterial disease. The respondents' understanding of smoking, as a...

Cigarette smoking doubles the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Various pathophysiological pathways have been proposed to cause such a cognitive decline, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Smoking may affect the microstructural integrity of cerebral white matter. Diffusion tensor imaging is known to be sensitive for microstructural changes in cerebral white matter. We therefore cr...

BACKGROUND Smoking cessation interventions in pregnancy could influence a woman's social behaviour and her partner's smoking behaviour, but this has not been examined in any published randomized trials. METHOD 918 women smoking at booking for antenatal care were enrolled in a cluster-randomized trial of three interventions: standard care, self-help manual and enhanced stage-based counselling,...

The purpose of this study was to design and test the usability of a computer-mediated smoking cessation program for inner-city women. Design and content were developed consistent with principles of user-centered design. Formative and summative evaluation strategies were utilized in its testing. The summative evaluation was designed to test usability in a naturalistic environment. A sample of 10...

The protection motivation theory (PMT) is a well-known theory of behaviour change. This study tested the applicability of the sub-constructs of threat and coping appraisal in predicting adolescents' smoking-related behavioural intentions and smoking behaviour longitudinally. Adolescents (N = 494) aged 11-16 years and not currently smoking at baseline participated in the study. Predictive validi...

In the MRC/Derbyshire Smoking Study, a cohort of about 6000 adolescents was surveyed annually about their smoking behaviour, attitudes, and other issues from when they entered secondary school at 11-12 until 15-16 years and then again at 18-19 years. Their parents answered a similar questionnaire when their children were aged 11-12 and 15-16 years. In this paper we report the findings of an inv...

BACKGROUND Tobacco control policies have succeeded in reducing tobacco use, but the negative correlation between smoking prevalence and socioeconomic status (SES) has increased. This study focused on the relationships between time preferences, SES, and smoking behaviour, attitudes and risk awareness. METHODS A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted in France in 2008 on a representativ...

Previous findings from the Lung Health Study have shown that smoking cessation and sustained abstinence substantially reduce the rate of decline in forced expiratory volume (FEV(1)) among smokers with early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) when compared with continuing smoking. Intermittent quitters demonstrated rates of FEV(1) decline intermediate between those of sustained quitter...

BACKGROUND Two recent much cited publications have raised the concern that risk associated with cigarette smoking has so far been underestimated. In this study we wish to determine whether excess all-cause mortality associated with smoking has increased during the last 20-30 years in a study population representative of the general Danish population and whether any such changes relate to change...