Impact of Smoking on Health-Related Quality of Life: A General Population Survey in West Iran

This study was aimed at assessing any association between smoking and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among adults aged 18 years and above living in Kermanshah city, western Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total sample of 1,543 participants obtained by convenient sampling during the period from February 1st to May 30th, 2017. Data were collected using a self-administrated questionnaire. The HRQoL of the study participants was assessed with reference to the EuroQol 5-dimensions-3-level (EQ-5D-3L). The impact of smoking behavior of the participants on HRQoL with controls for potential confounders was examined by multiple regression. Out of the total of 1,543 participants, current smokers, past smokers, and never smokers accounted for 19.7%, 4.2% and 76.1%, respectively. The mean EQ-5D indices were 0.69 ±SD 0.20, 0.70 ± SD 0.22, and 0.78 ± SD 0.16. The highest proportion of self-reported problems (including both ‘some’ and ‘severe’) were related to current, heavy smokers, with high nicotine dependence. Regression analysis indicated that current smokers had a significantly lower HRQoL compared to past smokers and never smokers (p < 0.05). The heavy smokers also had a significantly lower HRQoL score than moderate and light smokers (p < 0.05) and there was an inverse relationship between the HRQoL score and nicotine dependence (p<0.05). The current smokers, heavy smokers, and high nicotine dependent smokers had lower HRQoL scores. These findings provide inputs for better understanding and for devising interventions for smoking cessation, reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day and nicotine dependency.