A Study to Assess and Evaluate the Degree of Nicotine Dependence due to Smoking among Adults in Rural Part of North India

Abstract

Introduction: Nicotine is considered the most active constituent in tobacco which gets absorbed through lung alveoli. It creates a pleasant feeling and mood elevation which is the most common cause of addiction among smokers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 807 male participants were selected using non-random sampling. The main objective of the study was to assess and evaluate the degree of nicotine dependence among young adults in rural Ludhiana. Results: The prevalence of smoking was 20.44%. Out of these, 47.24% had low nicotine dependence, 42.51% had moderate dependence, and 10.23% were highly nicotine dependent. Conclusion: Nicotine dependence was prevalent among young male smokers. This dependence was significantly associated with age, socio-economic status, and duration of smoking.