Cigarette Smoking and Health-related Quality of Life in the General Population of Iran: Independent Associations According to Gender

BACKGROUND: Associations between smoking and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the general population remain unclear. The aim of the study was to quantify the independent associations between smoking and HRQoL. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on a total sample of 2197 participants obtained by multistage sampling to investigate the associations between smoking and HRQoL in the general population of southeast and southwest of Iran, aged 18–100 years in 2012–2013. Data were collected using a self-administrated of the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the associations between HRQoL and smoking while adjusting for various socioeconomic variables. In this study, P < 0.05 was considered a significant difference. RESULTS: Out of the total of 2197 participants, current smokers and never smokers accounted for 13% and 87%, respectively. The mean HRQoL indices were for the current smokers 66.66 ± 17.86, and never smokers 71.35 ± 18.47 (P < 0.001). Independent associations between smoking and HRQoL were found, including negative associations (P < 0.001). The multivariate associations between smoking status and HRQoL, male smokers had a lower physical functioning, mental health, and total SF-36 score. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking was independently related to HRQoL, with large differences according to the gender. This study showed that there is a significant difference in the quality of life related to health in male smokers compared to male nonsmokers.