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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Substance Use Disorders and Behavioral Addictions
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1502341
Association between tobacco smoke exposure and constipation among American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Provisionally accepted- 1 Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 2 Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
BackgroundStudies have shown that there is a certain relationship between smoke exposure and constipation. There are limited data on the associations between constipation and smoking or serum cotinine levels, a metabolite of nicotine commonly used as a marker of tobacco exposure. MethodsIn this study, we thoroughly examined the cross-sectional data from the NHANES from 2005 to 2010. To assess the associations between tobacco smoking status, serum cotinine levels and constipation, multivariate logistic regression models were applied. ResultsIn this cross-sectional study, 11651 participants were included. The average age of the participants in the research was 48.8±17.9 years. After controlling for covariates, there was no significant relationship between levels of serum cotinine levels, smoking status and constipation risk. According to the categorical analysis, the incidence of constipation was 36% higher in participants with serum cotinine levels between 0.05-2.99 ng/mL (model 1: OR=1.45 [1.13-1.85]; model 2: OR=1.44 [1.12-1.83]; model 3: OR=1.36 [1.06-1.74]; P<0.05) after adjusting for covariates by using the lowest levels of serum cotinine (<0.05 ng/ml) as a reference. In the nonsmokers, serum cotinine levels were linearly and positively associated with the risk of constipation (P nonlinearly > 0.05), and the relationship between smoke exposure and constipation was relatively stable in each subgroup.ConclusionThe promoting effect of serum cotinine levels on stool frequency-related constipation occurs in nonsmokers. Therefore, avoiding passive smoking as much as possible may reduce the effect of smoke exposure on constipation, as well as prevent and treat constipation.
Keywords: Constipation, Tobacco, Smoke exposure, NHANES, Serum cotinine
Received: 26 Sep 2024; Accepted: 13 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cui, Jiao, Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xia Jiao, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Zhenbiao Wang, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Zhuhui Zhang, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, Beijing Municipality, China
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