General
pack-years
What does pack-years mean?
A quantification of lifetime tobacco exposure — packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years — used in respiratory and cancer risk assessment.
"Forty pack-year history, unsurprisingly COPD."
Origin
Standard clinical metric that doubles as everyday ward shorthand.
Frequently asked questions
How are pack-years calculated?
Packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years smoked — so a pack a day for 40 years is 40 pack-years.
Why do pack-years matter?
They quantify lifetime tobacco exposure and feed into respiratory and cancer risk assessment, including lung cancer screening eligibility.
Is 'pack-years' actually slang?
It's a standard clinical metric that doubles as everyday ward shorthand rather than pure slang.
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