Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
OBJECTIVES: To study the association between Alzheimer's disease and smoking history. DESIGN: An unmatched case-control study. SETTING: Psychogeriatric unit serving an elderly population of Warrington. PERIOD: 2 years 1991-1993. SUBJECTS: 198 cases of Alzheimer's disease (ADRDA-NINCDS diagnostic criteria) were compared to two selected control groups (164 other dementias and 176 non-dementing group) with respect to their smoking history. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Relative risk (odds ratio) of Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS: The odds ratio for Alzheimer's disease in patients who smoked was 0.68 (95% CI 0.47-0.98). The negative association was statistically significant only in male patients, OR 0.45 95% CI (0.23-0.87), p < 0.05. The inverse association was also only significant in patients with family history of dementia, OR 0.34 95% CI (0.12-0.92), p < 0.05. CONCLUSION: The study supports previous findings of an inverse relationship between smoking and Alzheimer's disease. This, however, does not suggest that smoking is used as a preventive measure for Alzheimer's disease.
Salib et al. (Sat,) studied this question.