Chest
Volume 82, Issue 6, December 1982, Pages 696-700
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Subjective and Objective Measurement of Cigarette Smoke Inhalation

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The pattern of cigarette smoke inhalation was studied in 19 smokers with respiratory inductive plethysmography, a reliable unobtrusive ventilatory monitoring device. The mean volumes inhaled varied widely from 0.27 to 1.97 L, with a group mean (± SD) of 0.79 ± 0.45 L. Mean duration of smoke inhalation varied from 2.0 to 6.8 seconds, with a group mean of 4.5 ± 1.3 seconds. An inhalation fraction was derived by dividing the inhaled volume by the vital capacity; this fraction varied from 0.09 to 0.47, with a group mean of 0.20 ± 0.10. Subjects rated the depth that they Inhaled smoke Into their lungs on a visual analog scale and on a grading system. Correlation between visual analog scale and inhalation fraction was poor (r = –0.15). Also, inhalation fraction bore no relationship to smoking pack-years or current pulmonary function. The smokers’ inaccurate assessment of their inhalation pattern may help to explain the poor correlation reported between cigarette smoke inhalation and severity of obstructive lung disease.

Section snippets

Subjects and Subjective Assessment

Nineteen habitual smokers participated in this study. All gave informed consent and received financial remuneration. Information was obtained on brands of cigarettes currently smoked, number of cigarettes smoked each day, age started smoking regularly, and from this pack-years, a product of the usual number of packs smoked per day and the number of years smoking, was computed. Thirteen subjects smoked cigarettes containing at least 15 mg of tar, and the yield of brands usually smoked by the

RESULTS

All of the subjects inhaled some smoke mixed with air into their lungs, but there was considerable variation between subjects in the volume inhaled and in the duration of inhalation with associated breathhold time (Table 1). After taking a puff from the cigarette, the subsequent mean volumes of smoke mixed with air ranged from 0.27 L to 1.97 L for each individual subject, with a group mean (±SD) of 0.79 ± 0.45 L. Similarly, the mean duration of inhalation showed wide variation, from 2.0 to 6.8

DISCUSSION

In a recent report on “The Changing Cigarette,"3 the Surgeon General highlighted the need for further research on the manner in which smokers smoke cigarettes. Studies of smoking behavior have been hampered by the lack of reliable noninvasive techniques to measure the two phases of smoking, the puff volume and the subsequent inhalation of smoke mixed with air into the lungs. We recently developed an unobtrusive method of measuring the puff volume by placing a small inductive plethysmographic

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    The analysis of smoking parameters: inhalation and absorption of tobacco smoke studies of human smoking behaviour.

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    Manuscript received April 12; revision accepted June 15.

    Supported by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute grant HL 10622.

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