Turkish validity and reliabilty study of the minnesota nicotine withdrawal scale

Smoking is one of the most important preventable causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines smoking as "the world's fastest-spreading and longest-lasting epidemic". It is known that nicotine withdrawal syndrome is a major obstacle to quitting smoking and is the biggest factor in starting smoking again. The Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale, which was developed in 1986 to evaluate nicotine withdrawal symptoms, is considered to be the shortest scale among the self-report measures of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and the superiority of the psychometric properties of the scale has been proven by many studies. In our study, it was aimed to make a Turkish validity and reliability study of the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale in order to contribute to the Turkish literature and help the quantitative evaluation of smoking withdrawal symptoms. Participants who applied to Hacettepe University Family Medicine Polyclinic Smoking Cessation Unit, Keçiören Training and Research Hospital Smoking Cessation Polyclinic and Hacettepe University Preventive Oncology Department Smoking Cessation Unit between November 2022 and April 2023 and were contacted face-to-face one week after quitting smoking were included in our study. The total number of participants reached is 125. A questionnaire consisting of 15 socio-demographic questions and scales was applied to the participants. It was determined that the KMO value calculated within the scope of the exploratory factor analysis in which the construct validity of the Minnesota Scale was evaluated was 0.770 and the Bartlett Sphericity test was χ2= 574.422, p<0.001 significant. In the confirmatory factor analysis performed on the sub-dimensions defined in the scale, the χ2/df value was calculated as 1.456 (p<0.001) and GFI= 0.975, CFI=0.996, RMSEA=0.039. The Cronbach α value calculated within the scope of the internal reliability analysis of the scale was found to be 0.782. As a result of the statistical analyzes, the Turkish version of the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale is valid and reliable in our country. It can be used with confidence to predict smoking cessation status of patients who apply to Smoking Cessation outpatient clinics, to predict re-starting smoking and to recommend treatment changes for those who apply.