DO PULMONARY-FUNCTION AND SMOKING-BEHAVIOR PREDICT COGNITIVE FUNCTION- FINDINGS FROM A BRITISH SAMPLE

The relationship of smoking behavior, pulmonary function, and four mea sures of cognitive function was studied in a sample of 4,399 men and w omen (mean age = 44.7 +/- 17.1 years; age range: 18 to 94 years) rando mly selected from British electoral registers. Each subject was assess ed with a face-to-face structured interview (including demographic dat a, smoking history, and health-related questions) as well as cognitive testing [simple reaction time (SRT), choice reaction time (CRT), inci dental memory, and spatial reasoning] and pulmonary function testing. Results indicated that smoking was associated with somewhat better per formance on the CRT and memory tasks, and that smoking behavior was no t associated with decrements in cognitive performance. Impaired pulmon ary function was generally associated with poorer cognitive performanc e on all of the cognitive measures, suggesting that pulmonary function may be a relevant factor to consider in experimental studies of smoki ng and cognitive function among healthy adults.