Background: This study was designed to describe the impact of smoking on health status and mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Methods: A cohort of 271 consecutive PCI patients at the Mid-America Heart Institute of St Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo, were observed in a prospective, observational study. Surveys that included health status assessments were administered at baseline and at 6 and 12 months after intervention. Primary outcome was health status as measured by the Short Form-12 (SF-12) and the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ).
Results: Risk-adjusted statistical models demonstrated that, across a number of health-related quality of life domains, patients who were current smokers had poorer health status outcomes than other patients after revascularization. For instance, patients who had never smoked (P <.001) and patients who were former smokers (P <.001) scored significantly higher than patients who were current smokers on the physical component score of the SF-12, which indicated a better sense of overall physical function. Similarly, patients who had never smoked and patients who were former smokers reported significantly fewer physical limitations, less angina, and a higher quality of life on the SAQ than patients who were current smokers. Smoking status was unrelated to mortality rate in the 12 months after revascularization.
Conclusions: Smoking substantially limits the potential health status benefits of PCI.