Smoking Cessation has no Influence on Quality of Life in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease 5 Years Post-vascular Surgery

Hoogwegt, M.T.; Hoeks, S.E.; Pedersen, S.S.; Scholte op Reimer, W.J.M.; van Gestel, Y.R.B.M.; Verhagen, H.J.M.; Poldermans, D.

doi:10.1016/j.ejvs.2010.05.013

« Previous Next »European Journal of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery
Volume 40, Issue 3 , Pages 355-362, September 2010

Smoking Cessation has no Influence on Quality of Life in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease 5 Years Post-vascular Surgery

M.T. Hoogwegt
- CoRPS – Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic diseases, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
- Department of Cardiology, Thorax Center, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
S.E. Hoeks
- Department of Anesthesiology, Erasmus Medical Center, ‘s-Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
S.S. Pedersen
- CoRPS – Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic diseases, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
- Department of Cardiology, Thorax Center, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
W.J.M. Scholte op Reimer
- Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, School of Nursing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Y.R.B.M. van Gestel
- Department of Anesthesiology, Erasmus Medical Center, ‘s-Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
H.J.M. Verhagen
- Department of Vascular Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
D. Poldermans
- Department of Anesthesiology, Erasmus Medical Center, ‘s-Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author at: Department of Anesthesiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Room H805, ‘s-Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 10 7034613; fax: +31 10 7034957.

Received 4 March 2010; accepted 24 May 2010. published online 28 June 2010.

Abstract

Objectives

Smoking is an important modifiable risk factor in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). We investigated differences in quality of life (QoL) between patients who quitted smoking during follow-up and persistent smokers.

Design

Cohort study.

Methods

Data of 711 consecutively enrolled patients undergoing vascular surgery were collected in 11 hospitals in the Netherlands. Smoking status was obtained at baseline and at 3-year follow-up. A 5-year follow-up to measure QoL was performed with the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) and Peripheral Arterial Questionnaire (PAQ).

Results

After adjusting for clinical risk factors, patients, who quit smoking within 3 years after vascular surgery, did not report an impaired QoL (EQ-5D: odds ratio (OR) = 0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28–1.43; PAQ: OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.35–1.65; visual analogue scale (VAS): OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.42–1.84) compared with patients, who continued smoking. Current smokers were significantly more likely to have an impaired QoL (EQ-5D: OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.09–3.17; PAQ: OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.00–2.65), although no differences in VAS scores were found (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.72–1.90).

Conclusions

There was no effect of smoking cessation on QoL in PAD patients undergoing vascular surgery. Nevertheless, given the link between smoking, complications and mortality in this patient group, smoking cessation should be a primary target in secondary prevention.

Keywords: Quality of life, Health status, Health-related quality of life, Peripheral arterial disease, Smoking