Table 1 Smoking and the risk of cerebral infarction, summary of studies

Case-Control Studies

Donnan et al. [10] Melbourne, Australia, 1989

Never smoker

1.0

Hypertension, High cholesterol, MI, alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use.

Age, sex, neighbourhood

Ex smoker

2.0

1.3–3.2

Current smoker

3.6

2.2–5.9

Gorelick et al [13] Illinois, U.S. 1989

0 (pack-years)

1.00

Hypertension, and alcohol consumption.

Age, race, sex and method of hospital payment

1–32 (pack years)

2.48

1.43–4.29

≥ 33 (pack-years)

5.60

3.17–9.88

Gill et al [12] British Midlands, U.K 1989

Nonsmokers

1.00

Age, race, social class, alcohol consumption and treatment of hypertension.

Current (Male)

3.19

1.8–5.5

Current (Female)

2.26

1.2–4.2

Love et al. [23] Iowa, U.S. 1990

Current Smoker

1.43

No adjustments.

Age, gender, hospital admission date, and county of residence.

Past Smoker

0.64

0.25–1.69

Per cigarette/day

1.01

1.00–1.03

Per pack-year

1.04

1.02–1.05

Ellekjær et al [35] North Trøndelag County, Norway 1992.

Never smoker

1.00

Diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, previous stroke, and systolic blood pressure.

Sex, year of birth, and local government area.

Current Smoking

1.72

0.85–3.51

Prior Smoking

2.54

1.22–5.29

Lidegaard et al. [20] Denmark, 1993

Never smoker

1.0

Age, use of oral contraceptives, years of schooling

Former smoker

0.6

0.4–0.9

Smoking ≤ 10/day

1.6

1.1–2.4

Smoking >10/day

1.5

1.1–2.0

Jamrozik et al. [17] Perth, Australia, 1994

Never Smoker

1.00

Alcohol, hypertension, diabetes, previous stroke or TIA, previous MI, adding salt to food, fish consumption > 2 per month.

Sex and age.

Ex-smoker

0.49

0.31–0.81

Current (1–20/day)

1.45

0.81–2.68

Current (≥ 21/day)

4.92

1.90–12.7

Petitti et al [25] California, US 1996

Never

1.00

No adjustments.

Year of birth, location of facility.

Past

0.94

0.55–1.59

Occasional

1.38

0.42–4.56

Current

2.66

1.65–4.30

Feigin et al [11] Novosibirsk, Russia 1998

Non smoker

1.00

Hypertension, LVH, IHD, mitral valve disease, and BMI.

Age and sex.

Current

2.20

0.99–4.78

Cohort Studies

Kawachi et al [18] Nurses' Health Study, U.S., 1993.

Never Smokers

1.00

Age, hypertension, diabetes, BMI, high cholesterol, oral contraceptive use, HRT, age of smoking commencement, and follow-up period.

Ex-smokers

1.27

0.85–1.89

Current Smokers

2.53

1.91–3.35

   1–14/day

1.83

1.04–3.23

   15–24/day

3.57

2.36–5.42

   25–34/day

2.73

1.49–5.03

   ≥ 35/day

3.97

2.09–7.53

Benfante et al. [36] Hawaii, 1994

Non smokers

1.0

Current Smokers

2.30

1.8–3.0

Lee et al. [21] Taiwan, 1995

Never smokers

1.00

Age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, and alcohol.

Prevalence Study

Current Heavy (>20 per day)

1.72

1.00–2.96

Kurth et al. [19] Physicians' Health Study, US, 2003

Never Smokers

1.00

Age, alcohol, exercise, parental history of MI <60 yr, and randomized treatment group.

Ex-Smokers

0.99

0.86–1.14

Current Smokers

   <20/day

1.56

1.03–2.37

   ≥ 20/day

2.25

1.80–2.81