Nicotine dependence by types of cigarettes smoked among US adults, 2001-2004

Problem: Nicotine in cigarettes is what causes smoking to become an addictive behavior. Through understanding nicotine dependence and its potential variations by cigarettes smoked, we can understand specific factors related to nicotine dependence among adults.

Methods: We used data from the 2001-2004 NHANES, a household survey of the non-institutionalized civilians of the US population. Data were collected on current use of cigarettes, initiation and duration of smoking, and the characteristics and types of cigarettes smoked. Nicotine dependence levels were determined using the Heaviness to Smoke index, which consists of two questions, time after waking of first cigarette and the amount of cigarettes smoked per day.

Results:

Preliminary unadjusted rates show that smokers of light or ultra-light cigarettes (53.6%) are similarly highly dependent to nicotine than smokers of regular cigarettes (55.5%). Similar to light and ultra light smokers, smokers of menthol cigarettes (41.1%) were similarly highly nicotine dependent than smokers of non-mentholated cigarettes (43.9%). Finally, smokers who smoked cigarettes longer than 100 millimeters (45.9%) were similarly highly dependent to nicotine as smokers who smoked cigarettes less than or equal to 100 millimeters (41.2%). Results for other cigarette characteristics may be presented by race/ethnicity, gender and age.

Conclusion:

Preliminary results suggest that terms such as light or ultra-light cigarettes, mentholated or non-mentholated cigarettes, or the length of the cigarette makes no difference in how addictive these types of cigarettes are. Further analysis will be conducted to determine if potential confounders accounted for these findings.