Nurses not immune to nicotine addiction

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Despite seeing smoking's health effects firsthand, the rate at which U.S. nurses quit smoking has been no faster than for other women, researchers say.

The findings from researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles describe smoking trends among U.S. nurses enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study between 1976 and 2003. The study, begun at Brigham and Women's Hospital, is based on surveys completed every two years by 237,648 female registered nurses.

"Nurses in the study demonstrated behavior patterns similar to women in the general population," lead study investigator Linda Sarna said in a statement. "For example, the younger nurses in the study began smoking before entering the profession, a pattern reflected by American women starting smoking at younger ages in general. Being a nurse did not make these women immune to nicotine addiction."

The study, published in Nursing Research, found the rate of smoking among women in the study declined from 33.2 percent in 1976 to 8.4 percent in 2003 -- a 75 percent drop. The number of cigarettes smoked per day also dropped.

"Quitting smoking made a big difference in enhancing longevity, especially among nurses in their late 70s," said Sarna. "Death rates among former smokers that age were 1.5 times higher than those of non-smokers, while current smokers were 2.3 times more likely to have died by that age than nurses who never smoked."