ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to develop a new clinical evaluation form to compare the clinical features of nicotine dependence with those associated with alcohol, methamphetamine, and inhalant dependence. The clinical evaluation form consisted of six scoring items: subjective effects, tolerance, liking (of drug), social disturbance, withdrawal syndrome, and acute psychic and acute physical disorders. A preliminary clinical investigation was performed to test the validity of the evaluation form. Study subjects were those showing dependence on nicotine (n = 25), alcohol (n = 36), methamphetamine (n = 11), and inhalants (n = 6). All subjects met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) diagnostic criteria for drug dependence, as defined by the Work Group for the chapter "Substance-Related Disorders": M. A. Schuckit, J. E. Helzer, L. B. Cottler, T. Crowley, P. E. Nathan, & G. E. Woody. Nicotine produced subjective effects, tolerance, liking, and psychic withdrawal symptoms, all of which were mild in degree. However, nicotine did not produce social disturbance, physical withdrawal symptoms, or acute psychic or acute physical disorders. With alcohol, acute psychic and acute physical disorders were prominent, and alcohol also produced a moderate degree of influence on various other items that were evaluated. Methamphetamine produced the most serious acute psychic and acute physical disorders with intensive subjective effects. Inhalants were characterized by an intensive degree of acute psychic disorders and subjective effects with mild withdrawal syndrome. Our study findings revealed that the clinical features of drug dependence could be evaluated by using the new clinical evaluation form. Further study is required to clarify the clinical features of nicotine dependence compared with those of other drugs of dependence.
