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Exercise to Enhance Smoking Cessation: the Getting Physical on Cigarette Randomized Control Trial

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Exercise has been proposed as a useful smoking cessation aid.

Purpose

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effect of an exercise-aided smoking cessation intervention program, with built-in maintenance components, on post-intervention 14-, 26- and 56-week cessation rates.

Method

Female cigarette smokers (n = 413) participating in a supervised exercise and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) smoking cessation program were randomized to one of four conditions: exercise + smoking cessation maintenance, exercise maintenance + contact control, smoking cessation maintenance + contact control or contact control. The primary outcome was continuous smoking abstinence.

Results

Abstinence differences were found between the exercise and equal contact non-exercise maintenance groups at weeks 14 (57 vs 43 %), 26 (27 vs 21 %) and 56 (26 vs 23.5 %), respectively. Only the week 14 difference approached significance, p = 0.08.

Conclusions

An exercise-aided NRT smoking cessation program with built-in maintenance components enhances post-intervention cessation rates at week 14 but not at weeks 26 and 56.

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Acknowledgments

This was an investigator-initiated study funded by a grant from the Canadian Cancer Society (#019876-PI-HP). The Exercise and Health Psychology Lab (www.ehpl.uwo.ca) where this work was conducted is supported by a Canadian Foundation Innovation infrastructure grant (#312466) award to the PI-HP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Harry Prapavessis Ph.D., Stefanie De Jesus PhD & Sandra Batten BSc

  2. Fanshawe College, 1001 Fanshawe College Boulevard, P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6, Canada

    Lindsay Fitzgeorge PhD

  3. Faculty of Physical Education and Health, University of Toronto, 55 Harbord St., Rm #BN326, Toronto, ON, M5S 2W6, Canada

    Guy Faulkner PhD

  4. National Institute of Health Innovation, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Ralph Maddison PhD

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  1. Harry Prapavessis Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Harry Prapavessis Ph.D..

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Contributors

HP conceived the study. SD, LF, GF, RM and HP contributed to the final design of the study. SD, LF and SB executed the study. SD and HP ran the statistical analysis of the study. All authors 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. SD and HP prepared the first draft of the manuscript that was jointly interpreted and edited by the other authors. All authors contributed to and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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

All the listed authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. 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. The funders (Canadian Cancer Society) 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 of the funders.

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Prapavessis, H., De Jesus, S., Fitzgeorge, L. et al. Exercise to Enhance Smoking Cessation: the Getting Physical on Cigarette Randomized Control Trial. ann. behav. med. 50, 358–369 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-015-9761-9

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