Assessment of Nicotine Dependence, Cotinine Level and Carbon Monoxide Levels among Tobacco Users Employed in Private Automobile Companies in Chennai

Background and Aim: Tobacco is a leading preventable cause of death which causes death of six millions each year worldwide. One of the most effective methods of preventing this are tobacco counseling sessions as it provides a platform for the patient and the dental professionals to map out a plan for the patient to lead a tobacco free life. Therefore, the study was conducted to assess nicotine dependence, cotinine level and carbon monoxide levels among tobacco users employed in private automobile companies in Chennai.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Subject and Methods: A cross sectional study of 53 males was conducted among automobile company employees, using simple random sampling technique in Chennai, India. A detailed questionnaire assessing their demographic data, pattern of usage of tobacco, Fagerstrom test for Nicotine Dependence was recorded, carbon monoxide levels were recorded using Smokerlyzer, and presence of urine cotinine was recorded. Descriptive statistics and Chi square test were used to analyze the data.

Results: The mean age of the study participants was 31.7±11.32. Prevalence of smoking tobacco (64.20%) was higher among the study participants. Majority of the smoker study participants were highly dependent on tobacco, according to the FNTD scale. No statistical significance was found between dependency on nicotine and carbon monoxide levels among users of smoking tobacco (p <0.05). A statistical significant association (p <0.05) was found between dependency on nicotine and presence of urine cotinine among smokers.

Conclusion: High level of nicotine dependence was observed in the smoker participants, and cotinine in urine was found to be a prominent marker of nicotine among users of smoking tobacco. Carbon monoxide levels were high among people with higher dependency on smoking.