Impact of self-reported smoking status on health-related quality of life in Singapore

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate possible differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) according to self-reported smoking status in a multiethnic urban Asian population in Singapore. Subjects and methods: In this community-based cross-sectional survey of a stratified random sample, interviewers obtained socioeconomic, clinical and HRQoL - Short Form-36, Version 2 (SF-36v2), Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) and EuroQoL 5-Dimensions (EQ-5D) - data in English, Chinese or Malay. The association between self-reported smoking status and HRQoL at the overall scale and individual attribute levels stratified by gender were evaluated using regression analyses. Results: Of 3,006 consenting participants with a mean age of 48 (SD: 16.44) years, 49.9 % males, Chinese: Malay: Indian = 49.9 %: 25.3 %: 24.8 %, 727 (34.4 %) male and 1,386 (65.6 %) female are never smokers, 208 (86.7 %) male and 32 (13.3 %) female are ex-smokers, 104 (78.8 %) male and 28 (21.2 %) female are occasional smokers, while 460 (88.3 %) male and 61 (11.7 %) female are regular smokers. After adjusting for socioeconomic and clinical variables, male ex-smokers reported lower SF-36v2 MCS (regression coefficient: -1.60, P = 0.026) and HUI3 utility scores (regression coefficient: -0.024, P = 0.040) compared to never smokers. Female regular smokers reported lower HUI3 utility scores as compared to never smokers (regression coefficient: -0.056, P = 0.004). Conclusion: Compared with never smokers, male ex-smokers and female regular smokers reported poorer HRQoL in this multiethnic Asian study. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.