Assessment of anxiety, depression and nicotine dependence among construction workers in Chennai - A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Tobacco dependence has been identified as one of the important public health problems faced by both developing and also the developed countries. Anxiety and depression might also influence the quality of life of the tobacco users which increases the dependence on nicotine. Materials and methods: The study was conducted among male construction workers with the habit of tobacco (production workers and labourers) in Chennai who were all working under different organizations from June 15, 2021 to August 15, 2021(n = 416). GAD-7 anxiety severity questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence was used to collect the data. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 23. Results: Since the data is normally distributed, Parametric tests have been carried out. A highly statistically significant difference (p = 0.00) was found on finding the association of fagerstrom nicotine dependence with the groups (smokers, smokeless and both users) from One-way ANOVA test. A positive correlation was found between nicotine dependence, GAD-7(r = 0.82) and PHQ-9(r = 0.79). Conclusion: Nicotine dependence plays a vital role in an individual's anxiety and depression level. Higher the nicotine dependence higher their anxiety and depression level. Long working hours also plays an evident role which influences workers mental health directly.

Keywords

• Distress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fagerstrom
• Nicotine