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Does High Tobacco Consumption Cause Psychological Distress? A Mendelian Randomization Study.
- Source :
-
Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco [Nicotine Tob Res] 2017 Jan; Vol. 19 (1), pp. 32-38. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Aug 03. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Background: Increasing evidence suggests that smoking influences mental health negatively. This study investigated whether high tobacco consumption is causally related to psychological distress in a Mendelian randomization design, using a variant in the nicotine acetylcholine receptor gene CHRNA3-known to influence individual tobacco consumption-as instrumental variable for tobacco consumption.<br />Methods: Data from 90 108 participants in the Copenhagen General Population Study was used. Exposures included self-reported cigarettes/day and pack years and the CHRNA3 rs1051730 genotype as instrumental variable for tobacco consumption. Three dimensions of psychological distress were studied: Stress, fatigue, and hopelessness. Analyses with the CHRNA3 genotype were stratified by smoking status.<br />Results: Self-reported amount of smoking was associated with all three dimensions of psychological distress. For instance among participants smoking 30 cigarettes/day or more, the odds ratio (OR) for stress was 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47-1.89) compared to never-smokers. Corresponding ORs for fatigue and hopelessness were 2.18 (95% CI 1.92-2.47) and 3.08 (95% CI 2.62-3.62). Among current smokers, homozygotes and heterozygotes for the CHRNA3 genotype had higher tobacco consumption than noncarriers. Nevertheless, the CHRNA3 genotype was not associated with psychological distress neither in current nor in former or never-smokers. For instance among current smokers, the OR for stress was 1.02 (95% CI 0.91-1.15) among homozygotes compared to noncarriers of the CHRNA3 genotype.<br />Conclusions: Though a strong association between tobacco consumption and psychological distress was found, there was no clear evidence that high tobacco consumption was causally related to psychological distress.<br />Implications: Smoking is associated with several mental health outcomes and smoking cessation is associated with improved mental health. Causality in the association between smoking and mental health is difficult to establish using observational data. Using a genotype known to influence tobacco consumption as instrumental variable for amount of smoking, we found no clear evidence of a direct causal path between high tobacco consumption and psychological distress. Whatever causes the strong association between tobacco consumption and psychological distress, the co-occurrence is important to consider both in interventions for smoking prevention and cessation.<br /> (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Subjects :
- Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cross-Sectional Studies
Denmark epidemiology
Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry)
Female
Genotype
Heterozygote
Humans
Male
Mendelian Randomization Analysis methods
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Receptors, Nicotinic genetics
Smoking epidemiology
Smoking genetics
Smoking Cessation
Stress, Psychological epidemiology
Stress, Psychological genetics
Stress, Psychological psychology
Tobacco Use Disorder epidemiology
Tobacco Use Disorder genetics
Young Adult
Smoking psychology
Stress, Psychological etiology
Tobacco Use Disorder psychology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1469-994X
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27613883
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntw186