For those with T1D, more former smokers in U.S. than Europe

(HealthDay)—Among patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), there are more former smokers in the United States than in Europe, according to research published online Aug. 16 in Diabetes Care.

Sabine E. Hofer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria, and colleagues examined the prevalence of smoking habits in adults with T1D using data from the T1D Exchange Registry (T1DX) in the United States and the Prospective Diabetes Follow-up Registry (DPV) in Germany and Austria. Data were included for 10,579 participants from 65 T1DX centers and 9,826 participants from 297 DPV centers.

The researchers found that the proportion of smokers was 10.0 and 24.3 percent in T1DX and DPV; former smokers was 18.1 and 5.1 percent; and non-smokers was 72.0 and 70.6 percent, respectively (all P < 0.001). In DPV, the number of smokers was significantly higher across all ages. In both cohorts, smokers were more likely to be male. After adjustment for confounding variables, smokers had significantly higher glycated hemoglobin levels (8.5 versus 7.9 percent; P < 0.001) and had an unfavorable lipid profile, with significantly higher triglycerides (1.62 versus 1.35 mmol/L; P < 0.0001) and higher low-density lipoprotein levels (2.78 versus 2.67 mmol/L; adjusted P < 0.0001).

"We observed a significantly higher number of former smokers in the United States, implying that interventions to reduce tobacco consumption and smoke-free policies have been more successful in the United States compared with Europe," the authors write.