11% of cancer patients smoke after diagnosis

Study shows number of patients smoking has increased in recent years

JUST over one-in-ten cancer patients continue to smoke after their diagnosis, a study has found.

The research, which showed continued smoking is associated with lower survival rates among cancer patients, revealed 11% carry on with their nicotine habit.

And it found the number of cancer patients with a smoking habit is on the rise in recent years, in contrast to the decline in smoking among the general population.

The highest rate of smoking was among those with lung cancer, with one in four patients, while the lowest rate was among breast cancer patients with just over 5%.

Professor Patricia Fitzpatrick, from the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, said the Irish Cancer Society funded the research as they recognised many patients continue to smoke after being diagnosed.

The principal investigator on the study said it is part of a wider research programme that is also looking at barriers and facilitators to smoking cessation for cancer patients.

The study found the number of cervical cancer patients who smoked had almost doubled from 11% in 2014 to just under 20% in 2018. Patients with head and neck cancers who continued to smoke after diagnosis more than doubled from just over 3% in 2014 to more than 7% in 2018.

And it found ‘current smoking rates among cancer patients were higher in males than females’.

The analysis, which was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, aimed to estimate the prevalence of smoking among cancer patients admitted to Irish public hospitals from 2014 to 2018.

Current smoking rates among cancer patients increased between 2014 and 2017, followed by a small reduction of 0.3% in 2018.

The increase in current smoking went from 10.5% in 2014 to 11.7% in 2017 and to 11.4% in 2018.

The researchers said: ‘Given the high smoking rates among cancer patients, it is critical healthcare professionals advocate smoking cessation among all patients including those diagnosed with cancer.