Search

The availability of adequate instruments for the assessment of nicotine dependence is an important factor that is relevant in the area of tobacco addiction. In this study, we present a Spanish validation of the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS) (Shiffman, Waters, & Hickcox, 2004). The sample was composed of patients, all daily smokers, who visited their General Practitioner (GP) at five Primary Health Care Centers in different cities of Spain (N= 637). The results indicated adequate reliability for the general factor that assesses nicotine dependence (NDSS-Total) (Cronbach's ? = .76). Factor analysis confirms the five factors of the original validation: Drive, Continuity, Stereotypy, Priority, and Tolerance. It must be noted that reliability is adequate for the first, and moderate or low for the rest. The NDSS-T and its scales correlate significantly with the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), with the nicotine dependence criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) as assessed through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), with carbon monoxide levels in expired air (CO), and with the number of cigarettes smoked. The ROC curve indicates that the NDSS-T has a score of .79 which is under the curve (.69 for the FTND), thus the prediction of nicotine dependence is adequate. We conclude that this instrument is useful (in terms of its total score NDSS-T) for assessing nicotine dependence for Spanish smokers (in Spain), as has been found in other countries, language groups, and cultures.

AbstractSmokers who need help to stop smoking cannot always attend clinical treatment sessions, so it is important for other alternatives to be offered. We report a case study of a smoking cessation intervention administered to a 29-year-old male cigarette smoker who had made no previous attempts to quit and who did not want to stop smoking, but who was obliged to because he was about to undergo a surgical intervention. The intervention was a mailed behavioural program combined with telephone support, administered over a six-week period. The subject quit smoking after 4 weeks, and remained abstinent at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. At the 12-month follow-up the carbon monoxide in expired air was used to verify his abstinence.