Tobacco use and nicotine dependence among patients with diabetes and hypertension in Ballabgarh, India

 Tobacco use is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular mortality and has a synergistic effect with diabetes and hypertension. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use and nicotine dependence among adult diabetic and/or hypertensive patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 419 consecutively enrolled patients from the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) outpatient clinic of a secondary level hospital in Ballabgarh, India between July 2018 and January 2019. We administered a pre-tested questionnaire to assess tobacco use and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) to assess nicotine dependence. Current tobacco users were defined as those who smoked in the past seven days. Nicotine dependence was classified as low, moderate or high for the FTND score of 0 -3, 4-6, and 7-10, respectively. Seventy-nine patients had diabetes, 226 had hypertension, and 114 had both. The prevalence of tobacco use was 20.8% (95% CI : 17.1 - 24.9); prevalence of smoking was 15% (95% CI: 11.9 – 18.8) and smokeless tobacco use was 7.2% (95% CI: 5 - 10.1). Moderate to high nicotine dependence was found among 59.7% of tobacco users; 75.9% tobacco users attempted to quit tobacco in the past one month. One-fifth of attendees of a NCD clinic in a secondary level hospital used tobacco, most of whom had moderate-to-high nicotine dependence.  High level of nicotine dependence and inability to quit despite making an attempt for it necessitates the inclusion of tobacco cessation services in the management of patients with non-communicable diseases.