Smoking, smoking cessation and aortic arch calcification in older Chinese: The Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study

ObjectiveTo study the association between smoking, smoking cessation and aortic arc calcification (AAC) in an older Chinese population.MethodsA total of 3022 men and 7279 women aged 50–85 years were recruited and received a medical check-up including measurement of fasting plasma vascular risk factors. Two radiologists reviewed the posterior–anterior plain chest X-ray radiographs and assessed AAC together. Information on smoking status, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was collected.ResultsThe crude prevalence of AAC in men (38.58%) was lower than that in women (41.37%). The adjusted odds ratios of AAC increased significantly across never, ex- and current smokers in both genders. Dose–response relationships were observed among current smokers for smoking amount (cigarettes/day), smoking duration (years) and cigarette pack-years in both genders (all p < 0.01). The odds ratios decreased significantly (p = 0.018) with longer duration of quitting in light ex-smoking men (<23.5 pack-years) but showed no beneficial effect (p = 0.72) for heavy ex-smokers (≥23.5 pack-years).ConclusionSmoking increased the risk of AAC in Chinese, while smoking cessation decreased the risk only in male light ex-smokers. Chest X-ray is a cheap and simple method to detect AAC, which should be an important warning signal for immediate smoking cessation.