The relationship between nicotine dependence and addiction severity amongst cocaine abusers

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) are two widely used instruments in their respective domains, but have rarely been used simultaneously with a substance abuse population. It is argued that the complex link between nicotine and substance dependence continues not to be well understood, partially because the measures of smoking in published research with addiction treatment populations have not been standardized. We studied ASI and FTND responses of 102 crack-cocaine patients in order to examine the potential utility of using both instruments to enhance our understanding of these addictions and their relationship to each other. Total FTND scores were significantly related to ASI drug severity, psychiatric severity and psychiatric composite scores. Controlling for gender variance yielded similar results. We conclude that using the FTND does prove to be more sensitive than a less objective measure of smoking, but the ASI and FTND appear to be psychometrically distinct, making conjoint use for research limited with some clinical applicability.