title: Variable influence of the degree of smoking dependence on adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Iraqi medical students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the differences in the patterns of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms among non, light, and heavy smokers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study involving 400 medical students (representing first to sixth year students) was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology, University of Al-Mustansiriya, Baghdad, Iraq from March to June 2011. The medical students completed a questionnaire containing the adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS-screener) and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). An ADHD score ≥14 was considered positive. An FTND score ≥6 signifies heavy smokers, and an FTND score ≤5 signifies light smokers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred and sixty-one medical students completed the questionnaire, 16.6% reported ADHD symptoms (19.8% male, 12.1% females). Forty-five percent of ADHD adults were smokers; more than half of them were categorized as heavy smokers (51.8%). In comparison with non-smokers, heavy smokers displayed significant deterioration in their inattentive and total ASRS score (p=0.0001). Light smokers show significantly higher hyperactive symptoms in comparison with non-smokers (p=0.041). A high FTND score was associated with severer deterioration in inattentive (r=0.391, p=0.001) but not hyperactive symptoms (r=0.153, p=0.117).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ADHD symptoms are highly prevalent among Iraqi medical students, and smoking among ADHD students is higher and heavier than non-ADHD controls. Heavy smoking tends to deteriorate rather than ameliorate (self-medicate) ADHD symptoms.
authors: Department of Pharmacology, Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq. ammar_w_78@yahoo.com
authors: Ammar W
authors: AW
authors: Ashor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013337:Students, Medical; D055815:Young Adult