Smoking habits of ever-smokers by sex and birth cohort
| Birth cohort | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935–1939 | 1940–1944 | 1945–1949 | 1950–1954 | 1955–1959 | 1960–1964 | 1965–1969 | |
| n | |||||||
| Women | 9142 | 50 345 | 64 884 | 48 750 | 41 839 | 35 627 | 21 330 |
| Men | 9041 | 47 729 | 53 661 | 38 169 | 32 081 | 28 492 | 18 539 |
| Smoking status | |||||||
| Ever-smokers | |||||||
| Women | 2382 (26.1) | 14 589 (29.0) | 18 974 (29.2) | 13 618 (27.9) | 10 791 (25.8) | 8373 (23.5) | 5126 (24.0) |
| Men | 4148 (45.9) | 22 236 (46.6) | 22 446 (41.8) | 14 144 (37.1) | 10 027 (31.3) | 8099 (28.4) | 5257 (28.4) |
| Women-to-men ratio | 0.57 | 0.62 | 0.70 | 0.75 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.85 |
| Age at which participant first started to smoke | |||||||
| Women | 19.3 (5.0) | 18.7 (4.6) | 18.0 (4.2) | 17.7 (4.4) | 17.3 (4.3) | 17.3 (4.5) | 17.4 (4.3) |
| Men | 17.4 (4.1) | 17.1 (4.0) | 16.8 (4.0) | 16.9 (4.1) | 16.8 (4.4) | 17.2 (4.7) | 17.3 (4.3) |
| Mean difference | 1.9 (1.7 to 2.1) | 1.6 (1.5 to 1.7) | 1.2 (1.1 to 1.2) | 0.9 (0.8 to 1.0) | 0.5 (0.3 to 0.6) | 0.1 (0.0 to 0.3) | 0.1 (0.0 to 0.3) |
| Cigarettes smoked per day | |||||||
| Women | 16.1 (8.6) | 16.1 (8.6) | 16.5 (8.5) | 16.5 (8.1) | 16.0 (8.1) | 15.2 (7.9) | 14.3 (7.5) |
| Men | 21.4 (12.3) | 21.6 (12.2) | 21.1 (11.5) | 20.4 (10.9) | 19.4 (10.1) | 17.9 (9.8) | 16.3 (8.8) |
| Mean difference | −5.3 (−5.9 to −4.7) | −5.5 (−5.8 to −5.3) | −4.7 (−4.9 to −4.5) | −3.9 (−4.1 to −3.7) | −3.3 (−3.6 to −3.1) | −2.6 (−2.9 to −2.4) | −2.0 (−2.3 to −1.7) |
| Pack-years of smoking | |||||||
| Women | 20.9 (16.5) | 20.1 (16.2) | 20.0 (15.6) | 18.5 (14.1) | 16.5 (13.4) | 13.3 (11.5) | 10.0 (8.9) |
| Men | 28.3 (22.2) | 27.9 (21.7) | 26.0 (20.2) | 22.9 (18.2) | 20.0 (16.9) | 15.5 (14.0) | 12.0 (11.4) |
| Mean difference | −7.4 (−8.5 to −6.4) | −7.8 (−8.2 to −7.4) | −6.0 (−6.4 to −5.7) | −4.4 (−4.8 to −4.0) | −3.4 (−3.9 to −3.0) | −2.1 (−2.5 to −1.7) | −2.0 (−2.4 to −1.6) |
| Age at which participant stopped smoking | |||||||
| Women | 46.6 (12.8) | 44.5 (12.3) | 40.7 (11.9) | 37.9 (10.9) | 36.1 (9.7) | 34.8 (7.8) | 33.3 (6.3) |
| Men | 45.0 (12.8) | 43.1 (12.4) | 40.4 (11.8) | 38.4 (10.9) | 36.8 (9.6) | 35.8 (7.7) | 33.7 (6.2) |
| Mean difference | 1.6 (0.9 to 2.3) | 1.4 (1.1 to 1.7) | 0.3 (0.0 to 0.5) | −0.5 (−0.8 to −0.2) | −0.7 (−1.1 to −0.4) | −1.0 (−1.3 to −0.7) | −0.4 (−0.7 to −0.1) |
Age is in years. Data are n (%) for categorical variables, and mean (SD) for continuous variables in women and men. Mean difference is the women-minus-men difference (95% CI). Data on age at smoking initiation, cigarettes smoked per day, pack-years of smoking and age at which participant stopped smoking are for current and previous smokers combined.