The association of health-related quality of life and age of initiation of smoking.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between age of initiation of smoking and health-related quality of life. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of the 1997 Kentucky Health Survey. PARTICIPANTS: 677 Kentuckians aged 18 years or older. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Participants were classified as current, former, and never smokers. Early initiation of smoking was defined as beginning smoking at less than 15 years of age. All participants completed the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Health Survey (SF-20). Decremental health-related quality of life scores were demonstrated for persons initiating smoking before the age of 15 on SF-20 subscales of mental health, health outlook, and social functioning (p < .05). These decrements on SF-20 subscales are more pronounced (p < .05) for females on all of the scales except for physical functioning. CONCLUSION: Regardless of current smoking status, people who initiate smoking before the age of 15 have a poorer health-related quality of life. Women who initiate smoking before age 15 appear to have a much poorer health-related quality of life than men.