Smoking status and secondary medical conditions in individuals with disabilities

Introduction: Cigarette smoking has been reported to be more common in persons with disabilities than in the general population. Numerous secondary health conditions are associated with smoking in the general population though there are no recently published studies reporting differences in prevalence of these conditions in disability samples.

Methods: Participants included 1862 persons with disabilities who are participating in an ongoing survey study. Measures included smoking status items and secondary health condition items from the National Health Interview Survey item bank.

Results: The overall prevalence of smoking in this sample was significantly lower than that of the general population (11.3% vs. 20.6%; p < .05), and the prevalence rates differed between disability groups (p < .05; SCI, 16.9%; multiple sclerosis, 10.6%; Muscular Dystrophy, 10.3%; Post-polio Syndrome, 7.0%). Smokers were significantly more likely than nonsmokers to report having a number of secondary health conditions including chronic fatigue (16.6% vs. 7.8%), neck pain (73.0% vs. 47.4%), back pain (70.1% vs. 57.6%), lower extremity pain (24.2% vs. 18.7%), experience of severe headaches or migraines (40.3% vs. 21.9%), vision difficulty (46.0% vs. 33.1%), and injury as a result of a fall (46.0% vs. 36.9%; all ps < .05).

Discussion: Smoking behavior in this sample is associated with higher prevalence of several important secondary conditions. The findings support the importance of further investigation of these variables and the potential benefits of disability-specific smoking cessation programs. Longitudinal studies may help to understand the impact of smoking on the development of secondary conditions.