• Kamirul Islam, Indranil Saha, Rajib Saha, Sufi Abdul Samim Khan, Rupali Thakur, and Swapnil Shivam.
• Department of Community Medicine, Burdwan Medical College & Hospital, Burdwan-West Bengal, India.
• Indian J Med Res. 2014 Apr 1; 139 (4): 638-42.

Background & ObjectivesInformation on predictors of quitting behaviour in adult tobacco users is scarce in Indian context. Hence, this study was undertaken to assess the intention of tobacco-users towards quitting and its predictors with reference to nicotine dependence.MethodsA community-based observational, cross-sectional study was conducted on 128 adult tobacco-users (89.8% male) with mean age of 41.1 ± 15.7 yr selected by complete enumeration method. Data were collected by interview using pre-designed, pre-tested schedule. Nicotine dependence was assessed by Fagerstrφm Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) questionnaire.ResultOf the 128 users, 63.3 per cent had intention to quit. Majority of the tobacco users who did not intend to quit belonged to the age group of > 40 yr (66.0%), were illiterate (55.3%), started tobacco use at 11 - 15 yr of age (57.4%), had been using tobacco for 20 yr or more (70.2%), were daily tobacco users (91.5%), and highly dependent on nicotine (80.9%). Tobacco users having high FTND score and who started tobacco use early in life were 1.83 and 3.30 times more unintended to quit, respectively.Interpretation & ConclusionsSuitable plan for quitting should be developed depending on the FTND score of an individual, the most important determinant of quitting that would be beneficial for categorization of the treatment leading to successful quitting.

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