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Exercise Counseling to Enhance Smoking Cessation Outcomes: The Fit2Quit Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Regular exercise has been proposed as a potential smoking cessation aid.

Purpose

This study aimed to determine the effects of an exercise counseling program on cigarette smoking abstinence at 24 weeks.

Methods

A parallel, two-arm, randomized controlled trial was conducted. Adult cigarette smokers (n = 906) who were insufficiently active and interested in quitting were randomized to receive the Fit2Quit intervention (10 exercise telephone counseling sessions over 6 months) plus usual care (behavioral counseling and nicotine replacement therapy) or usual care alone.

Results

There were no significant group differences in 7-day point-prevalence and continuous abstinence at 6 months. The more intervention calls successfully delivered, the lower the probability of smoking (OR, 0.88; 95 % CI 0.81–0.97, p = 0.01) in the intervention group. A significant difference was observed for leisure time physical activity (difference = 219.11 MET-minutes/week; 95 % CI 52.65–385.58; p = 0.01).

Conclusions

Telephone-delivered exercise counseling may not be sufficient to improve smoking abstinence rates over and above existing smoking cessation services. (Australasian Clinical Trials Registry Number: ACTRN12609000637246.)

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Acknowledgments

This was an investigator-initiated study funded by a grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (09/338R) and a small project grant from the Heart Foundation of New Zealand (1405). RM was supported by a Heart Foundation of New Zealand Fellowship. VR was supported by a University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship. The funders played no role in the design, conduct or analysis of the study, nor in the interpretation and reporting of the study findings. The researchers were independent from the funders. All authors, external and internal, had full access to all of the data (including statistical reports and tables) in the study and can take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

Ralph Maddison, Vaughan Roberts, Harry Prapavessis, Marewa Glover, Yannan Jiang, Paul Brown, William Leung, Sue Taylor, and Midi Tsai declare that they have no conflict of interest. Christopher Bullen has received support for accommodation while a speaker hosted by a manufacturer of smoking cessation drugs but has no other interests to declare. Hayden McRobbie has received honoraria for speaking at research symposia and received benefits in kind and travel support from and has provided consultancy to the manufacturers of smoking-cessation medications, specifically Pfizer, GSK, and J&J. All procedures, including the informed consent process, were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Ralph Maddison PhD, Vaughan Roberts PhD, Christopher Bullen PhD, Yannan Jiang PhD & Midi Tsai MSc

  2. UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK

    Hayden McRobbie PhD

  3. School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St, London, ON, Canada, N6A 3K7

    Harry Prapavessis PhD

  4. Centre for Tobacco Control Research, Social and Community Health, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Marewa Glover PhD

  5. School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of California, Merced, CA, USA

    Paul Brown PhD

  6. Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Auckland, Auckland, Private Bag 92019, New Zealand

    William Leung MSc

  7. T & T Consulting, PO Box 311, Levin, New Zealand

    Sue Taylor

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  1. Ralph Maddison PhD
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  10. Sue Taylor
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralph Maddison PhD.

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Maddison, R., Roberts, V., McRobbie, H. et al. Exercise Counseling to Enhance Smoking Cessation Outcomes: The Fit2Quit Randomized Controlled Trial. ann. behav. med. 48, 194–204 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9588-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9588-9

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