Nicotine dependence and readiness to quit tobacco among past and present alcohol abusers in Chennai, India - a comparative study

Background Tobacco and alcohol are among the top causes of preventable deaths in the world, in most cases both these substances are used together. This study aims to compare the differences in nicotine dependence and the readiness to quit among past and present alcohol abusers. Methods Snowball sampling methodology was used to recruit past alcohol abusers from an Alcohol Anonymous group in Chennai, of the 25 people who were contacted over phone only 10 were ready to participate in the study and they were all grouped as past alcohol abusers, as they absented themselves from consuming alcohol for more 60 days, And to recruit present alcohol abusers two Alcoholic bars was selected and the patrons were questioned before they could consume alcohol, of the 24 people contacted 20 were ready to participate, for the subjects who participated in both the groups the levels of nicotine dependence were recorded using Fagestrom test for nicotine dependence and their readiness to quit tobacco was recorded using readiness to quit tobacco ladder which is available online, both these were recorded by the interviewer. Results Group 1 are past alcohol abusers, of which 3 had low dependence,3 had moderate dependence and 4 had high dependence and only one of them was ready to quit tobacco within 30 days, in group 2 which consists present alcohol abusers, 8 had low dependence, 10 had moderate dependence and 2 had high dependence, of which 2 people have actually absented themselves from using tobacco for 10 days but worry about slipping back, 4 of them have strong determination not to quit tobacco abuse at all. Conclusions From the pilot study it was found that 4 past alcohol abusers were highy nicotine dependent, and many of the present alcohol abusers were in pre-contemplation stage compared to past alcohol abusers.