RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Nicotine dependence in community-dwelling Chinese patients with schizophrenia
JF General Psychiatry
JO Gen Psych
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e100014
DO 10.1136/gpsych-2018-100014
VO 32
IS 1
A1 Yan Li
A1 Cai-Lan Hou
A1 Xin-Rong Ma
A1 Yu Zang
A1 Fu-Jun Jia
A1 Kelly Y C Lai
A1 Gabor S Ungvari
A1 Chee H Ng
A1 Mei-Ying Cai
A1 Yu-Tao Xiang
YR 2019
UL http://gpsych.bmj.com/content/32/1/e100014.abstract
AB Background Smoking is a serious public health problem. Patients with schizophrenia usually have a higher prevalence of smoking than the general population, but the level of nicotine dependence is seldom studied, especially for patients living in the communities.Aims This study aimed to examine the level of nicotine dependence in Chinese community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia and explored its associated sociodemographic and clinical factors.Methods A total of 621 patients with schizophrenia treated in the primary care centres of Guangzhou were consecutively recruited. The level of nicotine dependence was assessed with the Chinese version of the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND).Results 148 patients with schizophrenia were current smokers, and the mean (SD) score of FTND was 5.06 (2.55) for all the current smokers. The prevalence of nicotine addiction was 48.0% (95% CI: 40.0%-56.0%) in patients with current smoking. The patients with schizophrenia had a significantly higher level of nicotine dependence than the Chinese general population. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that male gender, being unemployed, having a family history of psychiatric disorders, having major medical conditions, first illness episode and less severe positive symptoms were significantly associated with a higher level of nicotine dependence.Conclusion Community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia in China, especially male patients, had a higher level of nicotine dependence than the general population.