Baseline characteristics of women and men according to smoking habits in 2001. The Tromsø study
| Never smokers | Former smokers | Occasional smokers | Consistent daily smokers | P value* | |
| Women, n (%) | 1648 (41.0) | 1061 (26.4) | 257 (6.4) | 1054 (26.4) | |
| No of pack-years | 0 | 9.2 (9.1) | 6.1 (7.4) | 17.4 (11.0) | <0.001† |
| Age (years) | 61.8 (13.5) | 60.2 (13.3) | 53.3 (15.3) | 56.1 (13.4) | <0.001 |
| Education >12 years (%) | 29.4 (461) | 26.9 (277) | 39.4 (98) | 23.1 (235) | <0.001 |
| % exposed for passive smoking | 58.3 (945) | 77.8 (807) | 75.2 (191) | 86.1 (880) | <0.001 |
| % with weekly alcohol use | 20.9 (330) | 28.3 (291) | 31.7 (79) | 27.8 (288) | <0.001 |
| Ever use of snuff | 0.4 (5) | 1.3 (10) | 2.1 (5) | 0.6 (6) | 0.02 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.9 (4.6) | 27.4 (4.6) | 25.5 (4.4) | 24.9 (4.2) | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 85.0 (11.7) | 86.7 (12.3) | 82.1 (11.1) | 81.3 (11.0) | <0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 141.4 (23.4) | 138.1 (22.8) | 130.4 (23.1) | 132.7 (22.6) | <0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 6.3 (1.2) | 6.3 (1.2) | 6.0 (1.3) | 6.3 (1.2) | 0.003 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.6 (0.4) | 1.6 (0.4) | 1.6 (0.4) | 1.5 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.4 (0.8) | 1.4 (0.7) | 1.3 (0.7) | 1.5 (0.9) | 0.006 |
| Men, n (%) | 698 (23.1) | 1302 (42.9) | 252 (8.3) | 781 (25.8) | |
| No of pack-years | 0 | 17.5 (16.0) | 10.8 (13.3) | 22.6 (13.2) | <0.001† |
| Age (years) | 55.9 (14.6) | 65.0 (11.5) | 55.5 (14.6) | 58.2 (13.4) | <0.001 |
| Education >12 years (%) | 40.9 (278) | 22.3 (280) | 41.9 (104) | 23.4 (176) | <0.001 |
| % exposed for passive smoking | 35.8 (247) | 76.1 (969) | 69.0 (171) | 84.4 (637) | <0.001 |
| % with weekly alcohol use | 34.8 (240) | 35.8 (458) | 47.6 (118) | 40.0 (309) | <0.001 |
| Ever use of snuff | 4.9 (31) | 5.5 (64) | 11.7 (29) | 5.2 (40) | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.8 (3.5) | 27.2 (3.6) | 26.7 (3.6) | 26.0 (3.5) | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 94.1 (9.4) | 97.0 (10.6) | 94.5 (10.5) | 93.6 (10.2) | <0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 138.7 (20.1) | 143.7 (20.6) | 135.2 (16.5) | 137.1 (19.1) | <0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 6.0 (1.1) | 6.0 (1.1) | 6.0 (1.1) | 6.1 (1.1) | 0.36 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.3 (0.3) | 1.4 (0.4) | 1.3 (0.4) | 1.3 (0.3) | 0.006 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.7 (1.0) | 1.7 (1.0) | 1.6 (0.8) | 1.7 (1.1) | 0.56 |
Values are mean (SD) or percentages (number of subjects). There were some missing values for some variables.
*P value for homogeneity.
†P value not including never smokers.
BMI, body mass index; HDL, high-density lipoprotein.