Kathleen A. O'Connell, PhD, RN, FAAN University of Kansas School of Nursing More than one-fourth of Americans over age 50 smoke cigarettes but the prevalence of smoking decreases with age. The good news is that the odds among the elderly of smoking-related negative health outcomes actually are lower than they are among younger smokers. The bad news is that this finding is due to the increase in other causes of death and morbidity with age, and because heavy smokers have already died and are no longer in the cohort. Smoking cessation after age 50 frequently occurs after the onset of an adverse health event. However, symptoms related to smoking are often incorrectly attributed to aging, thus minimizing the perceived consequences for some smokers.
Most studies indicate that quitting smoking at any age produces beneficial effects.
Smoking alters or decreases the efficacy of many pharmacological agents used by elderly clients. In addition, there are indications that the quality of life of older smokers is lower than the quality of life of nonsmokers in the same age cohort. Compared to younger smokers, older smokers may have more difficulty quitting. Older smokers tend to be heavier smokers, indicating they may be more dependent on nicotine. Most older smokers have tried to quit before, and they have lower self-efficacy for succeeding in a quit attempt.