Psychometric Properties of the Pakistani Version of the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence

The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependency (FTND) has been widely used to assess nicotine dependence. The current study intended to investigate the psychometric properties and utility among regular cigarette users. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependency (FTND) has been widely used to assess nicotine dependence. But there has been no evaluation of FTND psychometric properties in the context of Pakistani culture. Thus, the current study intended to investigate the psychometric properties and utility among regular cigarette users in Pakistan. The study was based on a cross-sectional survey design. Regular smokers were selected as a study sample, with the age range of 25 to 40 years. The sample was collected twice. First, for the translation purpose, a sample of 40 regular smokers was collected, and for final confirmatory validation (i.e., Confirmatory Factor Analysis [CFA]) of the translated version of the scale, a sample of 500 regular smokers was collected from different areas of Gujranwala by using a purposive sampling technique. Pearson correlation, alpha reliability analyses, and CFA were used by utilizing SPSS (version 26) and AMOS (version 10). There were significant positive correlations (r values ranging from .80 to .83) found between FTND in Urdu and FTND in English version. The alpha reliability of the scale was satisfactory (i.e., 0.76). Confirmatory Factor Analysis validated the final six items Urdu version of the scale. The translation and cross-lingual validation of the Pakistani version of the FTND scale confirmed its cross-cultural use in regular smokers in Pakistan. The study has important implications in the indigenous context of Pakistan.