Pack-year
Pack-year
Pack-year (/pæk jɪər/) is a term used in epidemiology to measure the amount of smoking an individual has done over a long period of time. It is calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked.
Etymology
The term "pack-year" is a combination of the words "pack" and "year". "Pack" refers to a standard pack of cigarettes, which typically contains 20 cigarettes. "Year" refers to the length of time over which the smoking has occurred.
Calculation
The calculation of pack-years is straightforward. If a person has smoked an average of one pack of cigarettes per day for a year, that is considered to be one pack-year. If a person has smoked half a pack per day for two years, that is also considered to be one pack-year.
For example, if a person has smoked two packs per day for 15 years, they would have a 30 pack-year smoking history.
Related Terms
- Smoking: The act of inhaling and exhaling the smoke of tobacco or a drug.
- Epidemiology: The study and analysis of the distribution, patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations.
- Cigarette: A thin cylinder of finely cut tobacco rolled in paper for smoking.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Pack-year
- Wikipedia's article - Pack-year
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