Tobacco

Smoking Attributable Harms

Key Messages
Smoking Attributable Deaths
Smoking Attributable Hospitalizations
Smoking Attributable Emergency Department Visits
Technical Notes

Key Messages

Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable harm and premature death worldwide.
Nearly one-in-five deaths, one-in-ten hospitalizations and one-in-twenty emergency department visits in Simcoe Muskoka are attributable to smoking.
There was a higher rate of harms and mortality attributable to smoking among males than females.
Cancer was the largest cause associated with deaths attributable to smoking, while respiratory and cardiovascular diseases were the main causes of hospitalizations, and respiratory diseases represented the majority of diagnoses for emergency department visits.

Smoking Attributable Deaths

From 2014 to 2018, there were an estimated 861 deaths per year that could be attributed to smoking in Simcoe Muskoka residents 35 years and older.
Nearly one-in-five (18.4%) of all deaths during that period were attributable to smoking.
The proportion of deaths attributable to smoking was higher among males (21.2%) than females (15.5%). Females report lower rates of current and former smoking in the data used for these calculations, which may explain the difference in attributable deaths and harms.
Nearly half of all smoking-related deaths had cancers (44%) as the primary cause. Cardiovascular diseases (29%) and respiratory disease (26%) represented nearly a quarter of deaths each, followed by a small proportion (1%) related to diabetes.

Smoking Attributable Deaths by Primary Cause Simcoe Muskoka

Smoking Attributable Hospitalizations

From 2015 to 2019, there were an estimated 3,516 hospitalizations each year that were attributable to smoking among adults 35 years and older in Simcoe Muskoka.
This represents roughly one-in-ten (9.5%) of all hospitalizations during this period.
The proportion of hospitalizations attributable to smoking was higher among males (11.7%) than females (7.5%).
The vast majority of hospitalizations attributable to smoking were caused by cardiovascular disease (45%) and respiratory diseases (43%).

Smoking Attributable Hospitalizations by Main Diagnosis Simcoe Muskoka

Smoking Attributable Emergency Department Visits

From 2015 to 2019, there were an estimated 7,058 emergency department visits each year attributable to smoking among adults 35 years and older in Simcoe Muskoka.
This represents one-in-twenty (4.0%) of emergency department visits during this period.
The proportion of emergency department visits attributable to smoking was higher among males (4.5%) than females (3.5%).
Over two-thirds (70%) of smoking attributable emergency department visits were related to respiratory diseases, followed by approximately one-quarter (26%) related to cardiovascular diseases.

Smoking Attributable Emergency Visits by Primary Diagnosis Simcoe Muskoka

Technical Notes

Smoking-attributable mortality (SAM) is defined as the number of deaths in a population that are caused by smoking. Smoking-attributable hospitalizations and emergency department visits are defined as the number of hospital stays or emergency department visits that are caused by smoking. The number of deaths, hospitalizations or emergency department visits attributable to smoking for each of these causes are calculated separately and then added together to determine the total burden caused by smoking.

According to a 2023 joint Public Health Ontario (PHO) and Ontario Health report on the Burden of Health Conditions Attributable to Smoking and Alcohol in Ontario, in an average year, an estimated 16,673 deaths in Ontario were attributable to smoking, which made up 17.0% per cent of all deaths in people age 35 and older. The data presented on this page have been taken from supplementary tables included as part of this report.

Smoking attributable harms and mortality are calculated using risk relationships derived from literature and provincial estimates for consumption (current and former smoking rates) and health outcomes to determine the Population Attributable Fraction (PAF). The population attributable fraction was multiplied against the prevalence of specific health outcomes present by public health unit to get health unit specific estimates for smoking attributable harms and deaths.