Perceived risks of heart disease and cancer among cigarette smokers.

Abstract

Cigarette smoking causes more preventable deaths from cardiovascular disease and cancer than any other modifiable risk factor.^1-3 Smokers who quit reduce their risk of these conditions and prolong their lives substantially,⁴ but approximately 48 million US adults continue to smoke.⁵ Many smokers may discount the increased personal risk they face from continued smoking,² thereby demonstrating an "optimistic bias."⁶ Physicians' advice may help smokers assess their personal health risks more realistically, but many smokers have not received such advice.^7,8 Improving smokers' awareness of their personal health risks may be useful to promote smoking cessation,^9-11 so we analyzed smokers' perceptions of their relative risk of experiencing a myocardial infarction (MI) and cancer in a nationally representative survey.¹²