Smoking initiation and schizophrenia: a replication study in a Spanish sample

In a prior US study, schizophrenia vulnerability was associated with higher risk of initiating daily smoking after 20 years of age. A survival analysis of onset age of daily smoking compared 290 controls with 250 consecutive DSM-IV schizophrenia patients from outpatient facilities at an urban catchment area in Spain. After controlling for gender and education, the cumulative hazard curves for smoking initiation age of controls and schizophrenia patients were significantly different. After age 20, smoking initiation rates were higher in all schizophrenia patients (and in 107 schizophrenia patients who started daily smoking at least 5 years before illness onset).