Differences in spirometry of Greek smokers presenting in the smoking cessation program of a large municipal hospital. Effect of sex and age

Greece ranks high in cigarette consumption in Europe. The purpose of this study is to highlight spirometric characteristics of Greek smokers, referring to our smoking cessation office. METHODS Fifty nine smokers -27 men/32 women- participated in our survey during the last semester. Spirometry was performed in all individuals.Data were analyzed using Spearman correlation analysis and independent samples t-test, using sex as grouping variable. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 53.40±1.30. Cigarette consumption (packyears) was 49.39±2.90 FVC measured 92.73 % ± 2.4 % (men 83.16±3.61 vs women 94.21±2.79). FEV1 was 89.16 % ± 2.33 (men 85.76±3.28 vs women 98.62 ±3.15 ) MMEF was 65.61 %±3.76 (men 54.72 ± 5.54 vs women 72.99 ±4.87). FVC was correlated significantly with sex (SF= 0.26 at p = 0.048) and age (SF =0.38 at p=0.003). The same applied for FEV1(correlation for sex SF = 0.366 at p=0.004 and age SF=0.331 at p=0.010) and MMEF (correlation for sex SF = 0.276 at p=0.035 and age SF=0.287 at p=0.027). Cigarette consumption(packyears) was correlated significantly with FEV1 (SF=0.285 at p=0.029) and FVC (SF 0.297 at p=0.022). Men and women differed significantly in cigarette consumption (Levene factor 2.5 at p Results are expressed as mean value ± standard error, SF=Spearman Factor CONCLUSIONS Spirometric values and cigarette consumption demonstrated significant differences between men and women smokers of different age groups, presenting to our smoking cessation office.