Abstract
Background: The Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND) has been widely used in clinical samples but seldom in population samples. Data are particularly lacking for a large range of ages. The goal was to describe the FTND sum score distribution in the adult population and to show potential variation according to the number of years of smoking. Methods: Random adult population samples from two northern areas in Germany were used. Sample 1 included 1460 current smokers aged 20-64 years and sample 2 included 1135 current smokers aged 20-79 years. One cross-sectional and longitudinal and one cross-sectional study were conducted. The FTND was administered during face-to-face computer-aided interviews. Results: The mean FTND sum score for those aged 20-64 was 3.2 among sample 1 and 2.5 among sample 2. The number of years of smoking and age did not affect the FTND sum score whereas it was positively correlated with the lifetime amount of tobacco smoked. Conclusions: Dependence according to the FTND does not increase with the number of years of smoking. Population-based interventions addressing the needs of dependent smokers across all age groups are needed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Drug and Alcohol Dependence |
| Volume | 71 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-6 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| ISSN | 0376-8716 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20.07.2003 |
Funding
The data described in this paper are part of the project ‘Transitions in Alcohol Consumption and Smoking (TACOS)’ that has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (grant no. 01 EB 9406). The study is part of the German research network ‘Analytical Epidemiology of Substance Abuse (ANEPSA)’, and the work is part of the Community Medicine Research net (CMR) of the University of Greifswald, Germany, that is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant no. ZZ 9603), the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The CMR gathers several research projects that are sharing data from the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP; http://www.medizin.uni-greifswald.de/cm ). This work has also been supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (NBL3 program, grant no. 01 ZZ 0103).
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
