The Fagerström test for nicotine dependence in two adult population samples-potential influence of lifetime amount of tobacco smoked on the degree of dependence.
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.
John
Ulrich
U
Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. ujohn@uni-greifswald.de/epidem
Meyer
Christian
C
Hapke
Ulfert
U
Rumpf
Hans-Jürgen
HJ
Schumann
Anja
A
Adam
Christiane
C
Alte
Dietrich
D
Lüdemann
Jan
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology