Properties of the Cigarette Dependence Scale and the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence in a representative sample of smokers in Norway

• Published in: Addiction (Abingdon, England) England), 2008-09, Vol.103 (9), p.1441-1449
• Main Authors: Stavem, Knut, Røgeberg, Ole Jørgen, Olsen, Jan Abel, Boe, Jacob
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addiction; Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; CDS; Cigarette Dependence Scale; Cigarettes; Cross-Sectional Studies; Deviation; Drug addiction; Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence; Female; Follow-Up Studies; FTND; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nicotine; Norway; Norway - epidemiology; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Psychological tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Sampling; Smoking; Smoking - psychology; Smoking Cessation - psychology; Social problems; Survey data; Telephone; telephone survey; Tobacco; Tobacco smoking; Tobacco Use Disorder - diagnosis; Tobacco Use Disorder - epidemiology; Tobacco Use Disorder - psychology; Tobacco, tobacco smoking; Toxicology; validity
• ISSN: 0965-2140; 1360-0443
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02278.x

ABSTRACT Aims  To compare the properties of four measures of dependence to nicotine/tobacco, the 12‐item Cigarette Dependence Scale (CDS‐12), the six‐item Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and two shorter versions of the same measures. Methods  In a cross‐sectional telephone survey of smokers in a representative general population sample in Norway, we compared the measures. We assessed (i) internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's α; (ii) compared item scores; and (iii) tested the validity of the questionnaires. Test–retest reliability was assessed in a smaller convenience sample. Results  Among 1265 respondents (64%), 290 (23%) were daily smokers and included in further analysis. Their mean age was 42 years [standard deviation (SD) 15] and 46% were female. They smoked on average 13 cigarettes per day (SD 6). Internal consistency reliability was 0.61 for the FTND (n = 267) and 0.81 for the CDS‐12 (n = 266). Score distributions suggested a floor effect for the FTND. Test–retest reliability was 0.90 for the FTND and 0.97 for the CDS‐12 (n = 31). The correlation between the scale scores and a question about the maximum willingness to pay for a cigarette after not smoking all day was 0.36 (P