 |
|
Nicotine Dependence and WHO Mental Health Surveys
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
|
|
|
To the Editor: The recent World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored survey of serious mental disorders reported 12-month prevalence rates of substance use disorders ranging from 0.1% to 6.4% across locales.1 Although not explicitly stated, these rates appear to exclude nicotine dependence. For example, the US 12-month prevalence rate of nicotine dependence alone ranges from 7.0% to 9.0%,2-3 yet the US 12-month prevalence rate of serious substance abuse/dependence in the WHO survey is 3.8%. Furthermore, since the current 12-month prevalence rate of tobacco use in several of the non-US countries surveyed by the WHO is 1.5 times the rates reported in the United States,4 12-month prevalence rates of nicotine dependence in non-US countries are likely to be 10.0% or more.
Since most tobacco users are not able to stop despite repeated attempts, and half of tobacco users will die due to nicotine dependence–related disorders,4 it can be argued that nicotine dependence is . . . [Full Text of this Article]
John R. Hughes, MD
john.hughes@uvm.edu
Department of Psychiatry
University of Vermont
Burlington
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati  Twitter
What's this?
RELATED ARTICLES
Nicotine Dependence and WHO Mental Health Surveys—Reply
Ronald C. Kessler and T. Bedirhan Üstün
JAMA. 2004;292(9):1022.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Prevalence, Severity, and Unmet Need for Treatment of Mental Disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys
The WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium
JAMA. 2004;291(21):2581-2590.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
|
