This questionnaire measures how physically dependent someone is on nicotine, helping guide how aggressive a smoking-cessation approach might need to be.
Low dependence.
Low-to-moderate dependence.
Medium-to-high dependence.
Very high dependence.
Not necessarily — it reflects physical nicotine dependence specifically, while behavioral and psychological dependence also play a major role in how hard quitting is for a given person.
Higher dependence supports more intensive support, such as combination nicotine replacement or pharmacotherapy, and earlier first-of-day dosing.
Time to the first cigarette after waking is the most predictive item — smoking within 5 minutes of waking signals high physical dependence.
Roughly: 0–2 low, 3–4 low-to-moderate, 5 medium, 6–7 high, and 8–10 very high dependence.