Journal of clinical epidemiology
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The long-term impact of smoking cessation on mortality is assessed among two U. S. populations: a large cohort of U. S. veterans aged 55-64 at entry and followed from 1954 through 1979 and the NHANES I Epidemiologic Followup Study (NHEFS) cohort of a national sample of U. ⋯ While these results confirm that those former smokers who survive for at least 5 years experience death rates that converge toward those of never-smokers, they also indicate that a cohort of cigarette smokers that undergoes substantial cessation experiences a death rate that does not converge toward the death rate of never-smokers. The fact that there has been no convergence for lung cancer is quite surprising, as this is the disease most strongly linked to smoking and smoking cessation and less likely to be influenced by other lifestyle factors. Further investigation is needed for a complete understanding of the impact of smoking cessation.