Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the association of current smoking and nicotine dependence with psychological distress in socially disadvantaged urban areas of Germany and Kazakhstan. Random samples of people living in disadvantaged areas of Berlin, Germany, and Almaty, Kazakhstan, were assessed using the General Health Questionnaire with 28 items and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence. The association of both current smoking and nicotine dependence with psychological distress was assessed for each sample using linear regression analyses and compared between the two samples calculating t-values for the comparison of B-coefficients. Current smoking was equally associated with psychological distress in both countries, whereas the association of nicotine dependence and psychological distress was only seen for the Kazakh sample and significantly stronger than for the German sample. The results could not be explained by social characteristics. Possibly due to the lack of outpatient community mental health services for the treatment of common mental disorders, nicotine dependence was associated with psychological distress in the disadvantaged area of Kazakhstan.