How Long Does CVD Risk Remain After Quitting Smoking?

The cardiovascular risk of former heavy smokers remains long after quitting, according to the results of a recent study.

Current cardiovascular risk calculators consider former smokers to be at risk for 5 years after quitting, but the actual time of elevated risk is unknown, according to the researchers.

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To explore this further, they conducted a retrospective analysis of data from the Framingham Heart Study involving patients without baseline cardiovascular disease (CVD) followed through December 2015.

Overall, 5308 of the 8770 participants were ever smokers, including 2371 heavy ever smokers (406 former and 1965 current). Over a median follow-up of 26.4 years, 2435 first CVD events occurred (1095 among heavy smokers).

When compared with current smoking, quitting was associated with significantly lower rates of incident CVD within 5 years (current smoking 11.56 per 1000 person-years, quitting within 5 years 6.94 per 1000 person-years). Compared with never smoking, quitting was no longer significantly associated with greater CVD risk between 10 and 15 years after cessation (never smoking 5.09 per 1000 person-years, quitting within 10 to 15 years 6.31 per 1000 person-years).

“Among heavy smokers, smoking cessation was associated with significantly lower risk of CVD within 5 years relative to current smokers. However, relative to never smokers, former smokers’ CVD risk remained significantly elevated beyond 5 years after smoking cessation.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Duncan MS, Freiberg MS, Greevy RA, et al. Association of smoking cessation with subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. JAMA. 2019;322(7):642-650.