Tobacco smokers, women more likely to have asthma attack

Key takeaways:

• Current tobacco smoking vs. nonsmoking raised the likelihood for an asthma attack.
• Patients with lower odds for an asthma attack included men and those with some college education.

WASHINGTON — Heightened odds for an asthma attack appeared among current tobacco smokers, women and those with a low education level, according to data presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.

Lillian Cooper

“The impact for clinicians is significant, as these findings suggest a need for individualized approaches in managing asthma for patients who smoke, emphasizing smoking cessation interventions,” Lillian Cooper, third-year undergraduate student at Santa Clara University, told Healio.

“Nevertheless, the absence of association with e-cigarettes and marijuana smoke indicates a need for a broader consideration of factors when assessing asthma triggers, which emphasizes the importance of individualized treatment plans and continuous monitoring,” she continued.

Cooper and colleagues assessed 4,260 individuals (69.2% women) who reported having current asthma on the 2021 Adult California Health Interview Survey to find out if smoking status, self-identified male or female gender, education level, e-cigarette use and marijuana smoke exposure are linked to asthma attacks in a fully adjusted logistic regression model.

Of the total cohort, more patients reported marijuana smoke exposure (40.4%) than current smoking (6.7%) and e-cigarette use (3.2%).

Further, an asthma episode/attack occurred in nearly one-third (30.82%) of the total cohort in the past 12 months.

When assessing the link between smoking status and asthma attacks, researchers found a significant increased likelihood for this outcome among current smokers vs. nonsmokers (adjusted OR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.01-1.7).

Between men and women, men had reduced odds for an asthma attack (aOR = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.5-0.66), according to researchers.

In terms of education level, researchers found lower odds for an asthma attack among patients who reported some college education vs. patients who reported a lower level of education (aOR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99).

E-cigarette use was not linked to asthma attacks nor was marijuana exposure, and Cooper said this finding was unexpected due to the common belief that these factors can worsen asthma symptoms.

“Future studies could build on these findings by exploring specific substances in e-cigarettes and marijuana smoke, conducting longitudinal studies, including diverse populations and/or designing intervention studies for smoking cessation,” Cooper told Healio. “A multidisciplinary approach could enhance our understanding of the complex relationship between smoking behaviors and asthma outcomes, and thus help to inform targeted interventions and strategies for asthma management.”

Reference:

Cooper L, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024;doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2023.11.098.