The association between hot flushes and smoking in midlife women: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Several epidemiological studies have investigated the association between hot flushes and smoking, but the results are inconsistent. This meta-analysis was performed to estimate an overall effect of former smoking and current smoking on the risk of hot flushes in midlife women.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for observational studies addressing the association between hot flushes and smoking until March 2015. Data were independently extracted and analyzed using odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on the random-effects model.

RESULTS

We identified 621 references and included eight studies with 27 054 participants. The odds ratio of an association between hot flushes and former smoking was estimated as 1.31 (95% CI 1.22-1.41) and that of current smoking was estimated as 1.97 (95% CI 1.81-2.14). No evidence of heterogeneity and publication bias was observed.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this meta-analysis indicated that former and current smoking are associated with an increased risk of hot flushes. However, more evidence based on large, prospective cohort studies is required to provide stronger evidence whether former and current smoking may be associated with an increased risk of hot flushes.