Age at onset of smoking is an independent risk factor in peripheral artery disease development.

Purpose: The potential effects of age at onset of smoking on cardiovascular diseases have been studied little, in contrast to the well-established evidence supporting a causal role of cigarette smoking in these diseases. We sought to analyze the relationship between age at smoking onset and development of symptomatic peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).

Methods: A population-based sample of 573 active or former male smokers aged 55 to 74 years were studied. Present or previous symptomatic PAOD was confirmed by noninvasive testing.

Results: Sixty-one subjects (10.6%) had symptomatic PAOD. Prevalence of disease increased with earlier starting age (15.6% if 16 years) of smoking. After controlling for risk factors that meet confounding factor criteria (ie, subject age and number of pack-years), men who started smoking at age 16 or earlier had a substantially higher risk for development of PAOD (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.15-4.15; P =.016) than men who began to smoke at a later age.

Conclusions: A starting age for smoking of 16 years or earlier more than doubles the risk of future symptomatic PAOD regardless of the amount of exposure to cigarette smoking.