Does tobacco use cause psychosis? Systematic review and meta-analysis
- PMID: 26249303
- PMCID: PMC4698800
- DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00152-2
Does tobacco use cause psychosis? Systematic review and meta-analysis
Erratum in
-
Corrections.Lancet Psychiatry. 2015 Aug;2(8):680. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00319-3. Epub 2015 Jul 14. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 26249286 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
Abstract
Background: Although the association between psychotic illness and cigarette smoking is well known, the reasons are unclear why people with psychosis are more likely to smoke than are the general population. We aimed to test several hypotheses. First, that daily tobacco use is associated with an increased risk of psychotic illness in both case-control and prospective studies. Second, that smoking is associated with an earlier age at onset of psychotic illness. Finally, that an earlier age at initiation of smoking is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. We also aimed to derive an estimate of the prevalence of smoking in patients presenting with their first episode of psychosis.
Methods: We searched Embase, Medline, and PsycINFO and selected observational studies in which rates of smoking were reported in people with psychotic disorders, compared with controls. We calculated the weighted mean difference for age at onset of psychosis and age at initiation of smoking. For categorical outcomes, we calculated odds ratios from cross-sectional studies and risk ratios from prospective studies.
Findings: Of 3717 citations retrieved, 61 studies comprising 72 samples met inclusion criteria. The overall sample included 14 555 tobacco users and 273 162 non-users. The prevalence of smoking in patients presenting with their first episode of psychosis was 0·57 (95% CI 0·52-0·62; p<0·0001). In case-control studies, the overall odds ratio for the first episode of psychosis in smokers versus non-smokers was 3·22 (95% CI 1·63-6·33), with some evidence of publication bias (Egger's test p=0·018, Begg's test p=0·007). For prospective studies, we calculated an overall relative risk of new psychotic disorders in daily smokers versus non-smokers of 2·18 (95% CI 1·23-3·85). Daily smokers developed psychotic illness at an earlier age than did non-smokers (weighted mean difference -1·04 years, 95% CI -1·82 to -0·26). Those with psychosis started smoking at a non-significantly earlier age than did healthy controls (-0·44 years, 95% CI -1·21 to 0·34).
Interpretation: Daily tobacco use is associated with increased risk of psychosis and an earlier age at onset of psychotic illness. The possibility of a causal link between tobacco use and psychosis merits further examination.
Funding: NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre.
Copyright © 2015 Gurillo et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY-NC-ND. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Figures
![Figure 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4698800/bin/gr1.gif)
![Figure 2](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4698800/bin/gr2.gif)
![Figure 3](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4698800/bin/gr3.gif)
![Figure 4](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4698800/bin/gr4.gif)
![Figure 5](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4698800/bin/gr5.gif)
![Figure 6](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4698800/bin/gr6.gif)
Comment in
-
Smoking cigarettes may increase risk of schizophrenia, study shows.BMJ. 2015 Jul 9;351:h3773. doi: 10.1136/bmj.h3773. BMJ. 2015. PMID: 26162606 No abstract available.
-
Does cigarette smoking cause psychosis?Lancet Psychiatry. 2015 Aug;2(8):672-673. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00239-4. Epub 2015 Jul 9. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 26249281 No abstract available.
-
Tobacco use and psychosis: missing the risk of bias assessment and other methodological considerations - Authors' reply.Lancet Psychiatry. 2015 Oct;2(10):865-6. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00427-7. Epub 2015 Sep 29. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 26462212 No abstract available.
-
Tobacco use and psychosis: missing the risk of bias assessment and other methodological considerations.Lancet Psychiatry. 2015 Oct;2(10):865. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00353-3. Epub 2015 Sep 29. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 26462213 No abstract available.
Similar articles
-
The age at onset of psychosis and tobacco use: a systematic meta-analysis.Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2012 Aug;47(8):1243-50. doi: 10.1007/s00127-011-0431-3. Epub 2011 Sep 8. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2012. PMID: 21901400
-
Tobacco use before, at, and after first-episode psychosis: a systematic meta-analysis.J Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;73(4):468-75. doi: 10.4088/JCP.11r07222. J Clin Psychiatry. 2012. PMID: 22579146
-
Prevalence of tobacco smoking in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Schizophr Res. 2023 Apr;254:109-115. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2023.02.008. Epub 2023 Feb 22. Schizophr Res. 2023. PMID: 36827942 Review.
-
The effects of tobacco smoking on age of onset of psychosis and psychotic symptoms in a first-episode psychosis population.Addiction. 2017 Mar;112(3):526-532. doi: 10.1111/add.13646. Epub 2016 Dec 13. Addiction. 2017. PMID: 27741562
-
Substance use and psychotic-like experiences in young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychol Med. 2023 Jan;53(2):305-319. doi: 10.1017/S0033291722003440. Epub 2022 Nov 15. Psychol Med. 2023. PMID: 36377500 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Mendelian randomization analyses reveal causal relationships between brain functional networks and risk of psychiatric disorders.Nat Hum Behav. 2024 May 9. doi: 10.1038/s41562-024-01879-8. Online ahead of print. Nat Hum Behav. 2024. PMID: 38724650
-
Tobacco smoking and nicotine vaping in persons with first episode psychosis.Schizophr Res. 2024 May;267:141-149. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.03.020. Epub 2024 Mar 27. Schizophr Res. 2024. PMID: 38547716
-
Physical Health and Transition to Psychosis in People at Clinical High Risk.Biomedicines. 2024 Feb 26;12(3):523. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12030523. Biomedicines. 2024. PMID: 38540135 Free PMC article.
-
Cross-ancestry genetic investigation of schizophrenia, cannabis use disorder, and tobacco smoking.medRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Jan 18:2024.01.17.24301430. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.17.24301430. medRxiv. 2024. Update in: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024 Jun 21. doi: 10.1038/s41386-024-01886-3. PMID: 38293235 Free PMC article. Updated. Preprint.
-
Unhealthy behaviors associated with mental health disorders: a systematic comparative review of diet quality, sedentary behavior, and cannabis and tobacco use.Front Public Health. 2024 Jan 5;11:1268339. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1268339. eCollection 2023. Front Public Health. 2024. PMID: 38249418 Free PMC article.
References
-
- De Leon J, Diaz FJ. A meta-analysis of worldwide studies demonstrates an association between schizophrenia and tobacco smoking behaviors. Schizophr Res. 2005;76:135–157. - PubMed
-
- Kumari V, Postma P. Nicotine use in schizophrenia: the self medication hypotheses. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2005;29:1021–1034. - PubMed
-
- Eranti SV, MacCabe JH, Bundy H, Murray RM. Gender difference in age at onset of schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. Psychol Med. 2013;43:155–167. - PubMed
-
- Casadio P, Fernandes C, Murray RM, Di Forti M. Cannabis use in young people: the risk for schizophrenia. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2011;35:1779–1787. - PubMed
-
- Di Forti M, Iyegbe C, Sallis H. Confirmation that the AKT1 (rs2494732) genotype influences the risk of psychosis in cannabis users. Biol Psychiatry. 2012;72:811–816. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous