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Yoneatsu OSAKI, et al
We analyzed the association between smoking status and medical costs for employees in a
company to determine the direct influence of smoking on medical costs. Data on smoking
status and cigarette consumption per day were linked to data on individual medical costs.
Data for 1.381 persons out of 1.531 employees in a given age group were analyzed. The
age range and mean age of the subjects were 30-75 and 41.5
7.4 years old, respectively.
The proportion of employees who received any medical care was not significantly different
among smokers, ex-smokers, and non-smokers. Although the average per capita costs
(hereafter referred to as population average costs) by age group were not significantly
different by smoking status, the medical costs for smokers tended to be lower than those of
ex-smokers and non-smokers. When the medical costs per employee who received any
medical care were compared among the three smoking status groups, a similar association
was observed. No significant dose-response relationship between cigarette consumption
and medical costs was observed statistically.
These results indicate that medical costs for
smokers are not higher than those for other smoking status groups. These results do not
support antismoking measures in the workplace, but may be due to a small sample size,
because no cases of death or malignant respiratory disease with the accompanying higher
medical costs were observed during the study. A large sample study observing a direct
relationship between smoking status and medical costs is therefore required for a more
appropriate example of the harmfulness of smoking in the workplace.
Abstract