Smoking and Lung Function of Lung Health Study Participants after 11 Years

Eleven years after Lung Health Study (LHS) entry, we performed spirometry in 77.4% of surviving participants who enrolled in a long-term follow-up study. Those not enrolling tended to be younger male heavy smokers who continued to smoke during the LHS. Their initial LHS lung function, after adjustment for these factors, did not differ from that of enrollees. Smoking habits by original LHS treatment groups (smoking intervention vs. usual care) tended to converge, but 93% of participants who were abstinent throughout the LHS were still abstinent at 11 years. Differences in lung function between treatment groups persisted; smoking intervention participants had less decline in FEV(1) than usual care participants.…