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Exercise as a smoking cessation treatment for women: a randomized controlled trial

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Abstract

Cigarette smoking remains the leading behavioral risk factor for chronic disease and premature mortality. This RCT tested the efficacy of moderate intensity aerobic exercise as an adjunctive smoking cessation treatment among women. Participants (N = 105; age = 42.5, SD = 11.2) received brief smoking cessation counseling and 10 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy and were randomized to 12 weeks of moderate intensity exercise (Exercise; n = 53) or 12 weeks of health education (Control; n = 52). Longitudinal models, with Generalized Estimating Equations, showed no differences between Exercise and Control in cotinine-verified 7-day point prevalence abstinence (Wald = 1.96, p = 0.10) or continuous abstinence (Wald = 1.45, p = 0.23) at 12-weeks (post-treatment) or 6-, 9-, or 12-month follow-up, controlling for differences in baseline nicotine dependence. There was no effect of exercise on smoking cessation. The present study adds to the literature suggesting null effects of exercise as a smoking cessation adjunctive treatment despite promising findings in short-term laboratory based studies.

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Funding

Funding for this project was provided from the National Cancer Institute (R01 CA155381 to DMW). PMM’s and RM’s effort was supported in part by grant P20 GM130414 and K24 AA026326, respectively. We would like to thank Fred Holloway for research assistance and Jason Frezza for EMA programming.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Box G-S121, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Shira Dunsiger, Jessica A. Emerson, Bess H. Marcus, Peter M. Monti & David M. Williams

  2. Population Health Research Institute, St George’s, University of London, London, UK

    Michael Ussher

  3. Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK

    Michael Ussher

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Robert Miranda Jr

Authors
  1. Shira Dunsiger
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  2. Jessica A. Emerson
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  3. Michael Ussher
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  4. Bess H. Marcus
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  5. Robert Miranda Jr
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  6. Peter M. Monti
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  7. David M. Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David M. Williams.

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The authors do not have any interests that might be interpreted as influencing the research. APA ethical standards were followed in the conduct of the study. This study was approved by the IRB at Brown University.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Dunsiger, S., Emerson, J.A., Ussher, M. et al. Exercise as a smoking cessation treatment for women: a randomized controlled trial. J Behav Med 44, 794–802 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00236-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00236-8

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