P2-417 Nicotine dependence among daily cigarette smokers in 14 countries

Introduction Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death globally, causing more than five million deaths a year. There have been studies on nicotine dependence in developed countries. However, it is little know about nicotine dependence at population level in high burden and high populated countries. Nicotine dependence is important for tobacco control strategies. In this paper, we will present nicotine dependence among daily cigarette smokers in Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Brazil, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Uruguay, Mexico, and Egypt. Methods Daily cigarette and bidi smokers are analysed from 2009 to 2010 Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) in 14 countries: China, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Russian Federation, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine, and Uruguay. Nicotine dependence is measured by heaviness of smoking index calculated from the time since the first smoke and the number of cigarettes (and bidis that are analysed separately) smoked per day. A statistical package, SUDAAN, was used in the analyses to take the complex survey into account. Results Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) for daily cigarette smokers ranges from the lowest in Bangladesh (1.32) to the highest in Poland (2.53). For males, the highest HSIs are in the Russian Federation (2.75), Ukraine (2.69), and Poland (2.66). For females, the highest HSIs are in Poland (2.34) and India (2.12). Daily cigarette smokers who think about quitting have a lower HSI score than those who do not want to quit. Conclusion Nicotine dependence among daily cigarette smokers varies by geographic region.