Emotional and other selected characteristics of cigarette smokers and non-smokers as related to epidemiological studies of lung cancer and other diseases
Lilienfeld, A.M.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute 22(2): 259-282
1959
ISSN/ISBN: 0027-8874 PMID: 13631493 Document Number: 509814
In 1956 a probability sample of the adult populations of Buffalo, New York, was interviewed to determine whether cigarette smokers differed from nonsmokers with respect to emotional status and other selected characteristics. From this sample, groups of cigarette smokers and nonsmokers were matched by age, sex, race, and social class. This comparison indicated that smokers differ from nonsmokers in their replies to questions concerning emotional status. Cigarette smokers marry more often, move more frequently, change jobs more often, are hospitalized more often, and participate in more sports than nonsmokers. The parents of nonsmokers are more often foreign born than those of smokers. No differences were noted in birthplace, religion, education, present marital status, and proportion of lifetime spent in large cities. Possible interpretations of these results are discussed, emphasizing their bearing on the statistical association of cigarette smoking with lunger cancer and other diseases. In the characteristics studied, the degree of difference between smokers and nonsmokers was not sufficient to account for the high degree of association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer and therefore could not influence the causal inference derived from this association, though it might be sufficient to explain the association of cigarette smoking with peptic ulcer and coronary artery disease. Further studies are needed to test these possibilities.