A recent study revealed that up to 2 of 5 smokers in the U.S. live with a disability.
According to research published in the journal Tobacco Control, smokers typically suffer from mobility and problems with thinking or memory.
Up to 1 in 7 suffers from severe disabilities
Researchers reported that 1 in 7 suffers from severe disabilities that interfere with their everyday lives.
“The prevalence of disability among adults in the USA who currently smoke cigarettes was more than two
times higher when compared with those who have never smoked, “ Jeanette Novakovich, a writer-editor in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded the research team.
For the study, researchers assessed data collected by the National Health Interview Survey, an in-person household survey, which was conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
Results indicated that nearly 40% of the nation’s 25 million current smokers suffer from “some difficulty,” “a lot of difficulty,” or “cannot do at all” while walking or climbing up stairs, cognitive difficulty, vision blurriness, hearing issues, trouble in communication, and more.
Moreover, 14% of current smokers are experiencing “a lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all” while performing the above-mentioned tasks.
Current smokers were twice as likely as non-smokers to suffer from common disabilities, with 8% facing mobility issues than 4%, and 4.5% suffering from cognitive disorders compared to 2% among non-smokers.
Researchers further mentioned that the study failed to prove if only smoking causes these disabilities, or if differently abled individuals turn to smoking as a coping mechanism and manage stress.
