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Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
Published on: August 6, 2013
Exploring brief measures of nicotine dependence for epidemiological surveys
Jose de Leon1, Francisco J Diaz, Elisardo Becoña
1Mental Health Research Center at Eastern State Hospital, 627 West Fourth Street, Lexington, KY 40508, USA. jdeleon@uky.edu
Abstract:
A score > or = 6 in the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), identifying high nicotine dependence, was compared with three briefer classifications: (1) Item 4: heavy smoking (more than 30 cigarettes per day); (2) Item 1: high early smoking (smoking within 30 min of waking up); and (3) a score > or = 4 by combining Items 1 and 4. The FTND scores from 1642 smokers from five samples in the US and Spain were analyzed. Heavy smoking had low sensitivity. High early smoking had low specificity. A score > or = 4 by combining Items 1 and 4 had relatively good sensitivity (94%) and specificity (88%). Researchers needing definition of nicotine dependence briefer than FTND may want to only use Items 1 and 4 of FTND with a cutting score > or = 4.
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