Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jun;105(6):1220-9.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302538. Epub 2015 Apr 16.

Longitudinal Investigation of Smoking Initiation and Relapse Among Younger and Older US Military Personnel

Edward J Boyko  1 , Daniel W Trone, Arthur V Peterson, Isabel G Jacobson, Alyson J Littman, Charles Maynard, Amber D Seelig, Nancy F Crum-Cianflone, Jonathan B Bricker
Affiliations

Longitudinal Investigation of Smoking Initiation and Relapse Among Younger and Older US Military Personnel

Edward J Boyko et al. Am J Public Health. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined whether military service, including deployment and combat experience, were related to smoking initiation and relapse.

Methods: We included older (panel 1) and younger (panel 2) participants in the Millennium Cohort Study. Never smokers were followed for 3 to 6 years for smoking initiation, and former smokers were followed for relapse. Complementary log-log regression models estimated the relative risk (RR) of initiation and relapse by military exposure while adjusting for demographic, health, and lifestyle factors.

Results: Deployment with combat experience predicted higher initiation rate (panel 1: RR = 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.28, 1.62; panel 2: RR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.54) and relapse rate (panel 1 only: RR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.36, 1.62). Depending on the panel, previous mental health disorders, life stressors, and other military and nonmilitary characteristics independently predicted initiation and relapse.

Conclusions: Deployment with combat experience and previous mental disorder may identify military service members in need of intervention to prevent smoking initiation and relapse.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Fagan P, King G, Lawrence D et al. Eliminating tobacco-related health disparities: directions for future research. Am J Public Health. 2004;94(2):211–217. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Current cigarette smoking among adults—United States, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012;61(44):889–894. - PubMed
    1. US Department of Defense. 2011Health Related Behaviors Survey of Active Duty Military Personnel. Washington, DC: US Department of Defense; 2013.
    1. Helyer AJ, Brehm WT, Perino L. Economic consequences of tobacco use for the Department of Defense, 1995. Mil Med. 1998;163(4):217–221. - PubMed
    1. Robbins AS, Fonseca VP, Chao SY, Coil GA, Bell NS, Amoroso PJ. Short term effects of cigarette smoking on hospitalisation and associated lost workdays in a young healthy population. Tob Control. 2000;9(4):389–396. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types