Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence among a Sample of Smokers from Secondary School Students in Al-Najaf City, Iraq

Abstract

Background: Tobacco addiction is a global social issue, leading to one death every six seconds worldwide. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) is a commonly used tool to assessing physical nicotine dependence. The FTND scores range from 0 to 10 and consist of six questions, each with its score reflecting the smoker's level of nicotine dependence. This study aimed to assess the nicotine dependence of secondary school students using the Fagerstrom test.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 1, 2023, to April 10, 2024, in AL-Najaf City. The study sample included 283 smoking students, selected from a total of 829 participants from eight secondary schools, selected by using a multistage simple random sampling technique. The study instrument was a questionnaire with two parts: the first part collected some demographic characteristics, and the second part consisted of the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence.

Result: Out of 283 smokers, 234 were males, and 49 were females. According to Fagerstrom Test items, the results show 43.1% smoke the first cigarette 60 minutes after waking up, 68.9% do not find it difficult to refrain from smoking in any forbidden places, 58% cannot give up smoking cigarettes after eating, 61.8% for ≤ 10 smoked cigarettes per day, 62.9% for never smoke more frequently during the first hours after waking and 65.7% for not smoke when so ill.

Conclusion: - 47% of smokers were in low dependence, 22.3% for low to moderate, 29.7% for moderate and 1.1 % for high dependence, with a significant difference between the Fagerstrom test and socio-economic status.