Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017) - Management of Patients with Chest and Lower Respiratory Tract Disorders Related

Review Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017) - Management of Patients with Chest and Lower Respiratory Tract Disorders related questions and content

The school nurse is presenting a class on smoking cessation at the local high school. A participant in the class asks the nurse about the risk of lung cancer in those who smoke. What response related to risk for lung cancer in smokers is most accurate?

  • A. The younger you are when you start smoking, the higher your risk of lung cancer
  • B. The risk for lung cancer never decreases once you have smoked, which is why smokers need annual chest x-rays
  • C. The risk for lung cancer is determined mostly by what type of cigarettes you smoke
  • D. The risk for lung cancer depends primarily on the other risk factors for cancer that you have
Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Risk is determined by the pack-year history (number of packs of cigarettes used each day, multiplied by the number of years smoked), the age of initiation of smoking, the depth of inhalation, and the tar and nicotine levels in the cigarettes smoked. The younger a person is when he or she starts smoking, the greater the risk of developing lung cancer. Risk declines after smoking cessation. The type of cigarettes is a significant variable, but this is not the most important factor.