An evaluation of social nicotine dependence of participants at the annual meeting of the Japan Lung Cancer Society using the Kano test for social nicotine dependence

Abstract

Objective. Social nicotine dependence is a concept for describing a psychological state associated with cognitive distortions of smoking, eg, glorifying or justifying smoking as acceptable cultural and social behavior. It can be quantified by the Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND). We evaluated the social nicotine dependence of participants at a meeting of the Japan Lung Cancer Society using the KTSND. Methods. We delivered questionnaires (including the KTSND, which has 10 questions with a total score of 30), to participants of the 49th annual meeting of the Japan Lung Cancer Society, and analyzed the answers from 460 respondents. Results. The KTSND scores (mean ± SD) of 19.0 ± 4.6 for 24 smokers were significantly higher than those of 12.9 ± 5.9 for 141 ex-smokers, and 10.5 ± 5.6 for 295 never-smokers. Non-members of the Japan Lung Cancer Society and younger participants showed higher KTSND scores than members and older participants. Among the respondents, 353 answered that they regularly treat lung cancer. Out of the 353 respondents, A; 82 answered that they treat patients after the completion of smoking cessation (10.3 ± 6.6), B; 235 answered that they treat patients despite failure or the incompletion of smoking cessation (10.9 ± 5.6), C; 26 answered that they only explain the relationship between lung cancer and smoking (14.5 ± 5.9), and D; 5 answered that they never talk about smoking (17.4 ± 8.0). The respondents who answered that they are not interested in smoking cessation showed significantly higher KTSND scores. Conclusion. KTSND scores of participants at a meeting of the Japan Lung Cancer Society showed similar results to previous reports. In addition, the KTSND reflected medical doctors' attitudes to smoking cessation for patients with lung cancer. © 2010 The Japan Lung Cancer Society.