Elderly smokers keep their habit a secret

More elderly adults are lighting up cigarettes and not reporting their nicotine habits to doctors and others, according to findings from one of the first studies to examine the accuracy of self-reported smoking habits.

The findings bring into question the validity of using self-reported tobacco use in research projects, reporting tobacco use by the general public, or caring for individuals with chronic diseases related to smoking, according to researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and other university collaborators.

The study has been published in the current Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.

“Denying smoking overall increased with age from 6% of 18-34 year olds to 25% of the elderly over the age of 75,” said the article’s lead author, Dr Monica Fisher, Ph.D., DDS, MS, MPH, an associate professor at Case Western’s dental school.

Non-Hispanic white men and women followed the pattern of the overall study and increased denial with age.

“Social taboos against smoking among the older groups may drive some elderly to deny smoking,” said Dr Fisher.

However, denial can have deadly consequences. For example, researchers said an earlier study by other researchers showed cotinine – a byproduct of nicotine use that stays in the blood for several days after smoking – was found in smokers who did not admit smoking and had significantly higher mortality rates (36%) than self-reported true non-smokers (15%).