Role of nicotine dependence in smoking relapse: results from a prospective study using population-based recruitment methodology.

Results of a prospective examination of factors influencing smoking relapse are reported for a sample of smokers (N = 522) obtained through population-based recruitment. All subjects were given a modified Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (modified FTQ), which is a 5-item self-report instrument characterizing smokers according to their degree of nicotine dependence. At 30 days post-cessation, those placing in the lowest quartile of the modified FTQ at baseline had the highest survival rate (79%) and those placing in the highest quartile at baseline had the lowest survival (non-relapse) rate (43%). The difference in survival among the groups was statistically significant (p < .001). At 12 months, those placing in the lowest quartile of baseline cigarette consumption had the highest survival rate (34%) and those placing in the highest quartile had the lowest survival rate (14%; p < .001). It seems increasingly clear that level of dependence, even as indexed by comparatively crude self-report measures such as amount smoked is associated with the rate and pattern of smoking relapse.