Physiotherapy Department, Federal University of São Carlos, Rod. Washington Luis, Km, 235 - C.P. 676, Zip Code 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2011 Jan-Feb;52(1):79-83. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2010.02.004. Epub 2010 Mar 3.
Among the elderly, smoking is related to death and it contributes to disability associated with chronic diseases. This study aims to verify the influence of a history of smoking on the physical capacity of elderly people, and its relationship with the gender. Elderly people beginning to practice physical activity reported questions about their smoking history and underwent a physical evaluation, consisted by hemodynamic data (blood pressure, heart rate and maximum oxygen consumption), body mass index (BMI), muscular strength, flexibility and balance. Mann-Whitney test and Spearman's test was used to data analysis. The sample consisted of 127 subjects, among whom 26.8% were ex-smokers. There were a higher number of nonsmoking women (p<0.001) than others, and women smoked fewer packets per day (p=0.047). Among the women, those ex-smokers were younger and more flexible in comparison with those nonsmokers (p<0.05). Among the men, the ex-smokers were older and walked more slowly than nonsmokers (p<0.05). There was a correlation between the BMI and duration of smoking time. Smoking cessation benefits the elderly, since the physical variables showed no long-term harm associated with the history of smoking when compared with those of elderly without this habit.
在老年人中，吸烟与死亡有关，并且与与慢性病相关的残疾有关。本研究旨在验证吸烟史对老年人身体能力的影响及其与性别之间的关系。开始进行体育锻炼的老年人报告了有关其吸烟史的问题，并进行了身体评估，包括血流动力学数据（血压，心率和最大耗氧量），体重指数（BMI），肌肉力量，柔韧性和平衡。采用曼-惠特尼检验和斯皮尔曼检验进行数据分析。该样本包括 127 名受试者，其中 26.8％为戒烟者。不吸烟的女性人数（p<0.001）明显多于其他女性，并且女性每天吸烟的数量较少（p=0.047）。在女性中，与不吸烟者相比，戒烟者年龄较小，柔韧性更好（p<0.05）。在男性中，戒烟者比不吸烟者年龄更大，行走速度更慢（p<0.05）。BMI 与吸烟时间长短之间存在相关性。戒烟对老年人有益，因为与没有这种习惯的老年人相比，吸烟史的身体变量并未显示出与吸烟有关的长期危害。
