This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Patient Education/ Health Literacy  • Obesity  • Tobacco  • Diagnosis  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Patricia S. Keenan, PhD, MHS

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(3):237-242.

Background  Smoking and patterns of diet and activity are the 2 leading underlying causes of death in the United States, yet the factors that prompt individuals to adopt healthier habits are not well understood.

Methods  This study was undertaken to determine whether individuals who have experienced recent adverse health events are more likely to quit smoking or to lose weight than those without recent events using Health and Retirement Study panel survey data for 20 221 overweight or obese individuals younger than 75 years and 7764 smokers from 1992 to 2000.

Results  In multivariate analyses, adults with recent diagnoses of stroke, cancer, lung disease, heart disease, or diabetes mellitus were 3.2 times more likely to quit smoking than were individuals without new diagnoses (P < .001). Among overweight or obese individuals younger than 75 years, those with recent diagnoses of lung disease, heart disease, or diabetes mellitus lost –0.35 U of body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) compared with those without these new diagnoses (P < .001). Smokers with multiple new diagnoses were 6 times more likely to quit smoking compared with those with no new diagnoses. The odds of quitting smoking were 5 times greater in individuals with a new diagnosis of heart disease, and body mass index declined by 0.6 U in overweight or obese individuals with a new diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (P < .001).

Conclusions  Across a range of health conditions, new diagnoses can serve as a window of opportunity that prompts older adults to change health habits, in particular, to quit smoking. Quality improvement efforts targeting secondary as well as primary prevention through the health care system are likely well founded.

Author Affiliation: Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

In This Issue of Archives of Internal Medicine
Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(3):216.
FULL TEXT  

Windows of Opportunity for Smoking and Weight Loss Counseling
Sherry Pagoto and Judith Ockene
Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(3):217-218.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Effect of New Diagnoses on Smoking and Weight Change
JWatch General 2009;2009:3-3.
FULL TEXT  

Windows of Opportunity for Smoking and Weight Loss Counseling
Pagoto and Ockene
Arch Intern Med 2009;169:217-218.
FULL TEXT