Chest
Volume 128, Issue 3, September 2005, Pages 1233-1238
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Clinical Investigations
Self-Reported Smoking Status and Exhaled Carbon Monoxide

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.128.3.1233Get rights and content

Study objectives

To investigate the validity of self-reported responses to questions on current smoking in two cohorts based in Northern England.

Design

A cross-sectional population-based study (the Newcastle Heart Project [NHP]) and a follow-up of the Newcastle Thousand Families birth cohort established in 1947.

Patients or participants

Participants included 1,189 members of the NHP and 410 members of the Newcastle Thousand Families cohort who completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, including questions on current smoking, and attended a clinical examination, including testing for exhaled carbon monoxide between April 1993 and December 1998.

Results

The number of self-reporting smokers for whom very low (ie, < 6 ppm) exhaled carbon monoxide levels were recorded varied between 9% in the Newcastle Thousand Families Study and 26% among the members of the NHP who were of South Asian origin. Using a cutoff of 8 ppm, 80% of self-reported smokers were identified in both the Newcastle Thousand Families study and in the NHP European population, but only 60% were identified in the NHP South Asian population. In each population, < 7% of nonsmokers had exhaled carbon monoxide measurements of > 6 ppm, with nonsmoking men more likely to have higher levels than nonsmoking women. Among the nonsmokers, the levels of exhaled carbon monoxide did not vary with respect to the smoking status of a partner or socioeconomic status.

Conclusions

Using a cutoff value of 6 ppm would potentially miss a large number of smokers, although this may vary with ethnicity. Epidemiologic studies should continue to use biochemical markers to validate responses to smoking surveys. However, the use of exhaled carbon monoxide measurements as a method of assessing the validity of self-reported smoking status may require additional analyses of whether the cutoff level should vary for different populations.

Section snippets

The NHP

The NHP was a cross-sectional, population-based study designed to investigate the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in different ethnic groups who reside in Newcastle Upon Tyne in northern England.3, 4, 5, 6, 7 European subjects in the NHP (n = 6,448) were people aged 25 to 74 years who were sampled from the Family Health Services Authority Register for a previous study, the Newcastle Health and Lifestyle Survey.8 South Asian subjects were identified by South Asian-sounding

Results

Of the 1,744 people sampled from the Newcastle Health and Lifestyle Survey, 1,308 were contacted, and 840 people (64%) agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 15 people were later found to be of non-European origin and were excluded from additional analyses. Of the 1,050 eligible South Asian persons who were contacted, 709 (68%) agreed to participate. Of these, 684 South Asians (96%) classed themselves as Pakistani, Indian, or Bangladeshi. The information on exhaled carbon monoxide levels

Discussion

Self-reported smoking surveys in epidemiologic studies are a crucial and common method used to obtain information on a major risk factor for many diseases. The results of this study suggest that such surveys are valid but that smoking status should be additionally assessed by the use of one of a number of biochemical markers. The actual choice of biochemical marker to be used will often depend on factors other than the scientific validity of the marker but more on the feasibility of obtaining

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    The Newcastle Thousand Families Study was supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Sir John Knott Trust, the Special Trustees of the Newcastle Hospitals, and the Minnie Henderson Trust. The NHP was supported by the Barclay Trust, the British Diabetic Association, Newcastle Health Authority, research and development directorate of the Northern Regional Health Authority, the Department of Health, and the British Heart Foundation.

    Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml).

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