Publication:

An epidemiological study of nicotine de-addiction

Background Nicotine is the primary contributor to cancer among users and harms nearly every organ in the body. Nicotine de-addiction is one of the best things that can protect the vulnerable body from disease. Nicotine de-addiction includes diverse methods from simple medical advice to pharmacotherapy. However, some people show serious withdrawal symptoms after quitting. It is therefore necessary to analyze the frequency of the use of various de-addiction methods and prevalence of withdrawal symptoms observed on quitting.

Methods The relevant information was collected from the community (friends, relatives, neighbours, students) using a specially designed Google form or data collection form, prepared in both English and Gujarati. Data collected was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis to determine the frequency distribution of various parameters using Microsoft excel.

Results 83.52% people were aware about the carcinogenic effects of nicotine containing tobacco products. 49.43% people attempted to quit using methods like nicotine replacement therapies, counselling and drug therapy. Out of which, 36.78% people were successful. It was observed that 75.86% people observed one or other withdrawal effects during the quitting attempt.

Conclusions Encouraging users for de-addiction can have positive cascading effects. De-addiction treatments in compliance with people are counselling, Nicotine patches and Nicotine gum. However, many people did not choose any of these methods may be due to cost and access barriers. Integration of nicotine replacement therapies and behavioural treatment must be recommended by the physicians to help their patients overcome this habit.