Yoga as a Complementary Therapy for Smoking Cessation
Condition: Tobacco Dependence
MeSH terms: Tobacco Use Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study examines the efficacy of yoga as a complementary therapy for smoking cessation
    

Detailed description: 
      Despite the existence of effective medications for smoking cessation, approximately 50-80% of
      smokers attempt to quit without using pharmacotherapy. Efforts to encourage medication use
      during cessation attempts have met with mixed success. Many do not use medications because of
      concerns about side effects, contraindications that make medication use inappropriate, and
      individual preferences for chemical-free quit attempts. This leaves many smokers seeking an
      effective alternative to assist them in attempting to quit smoking. Each year, over 41% of
      smokers report failed attempts to quit smoking. Thus, effective non-pharmacological
      interventions to increase rates of successful cessation are greatly needed.

      Our research, and the research of other investigators, has demonstrated that traditional
      (Western) exercise (e.g., brisk walking, bicycling) improves smokers' ability to successfully
      quit. Exercise may help smokers quit by reducing concerns regarding post-cessation weight
      gain, and by reducing nicotine withdrawal and enhancing mood. Recent research suggests that
      yoga is an acceptable and potentially effective alternative therapy for smoking cessation for
      several reasons: As a form of exercise, yoga shares many of the same properties as
      traditional (Western) aerobic exercise in that yoga has been shown to improve mood, physical
      fitness, weight control, self-image and quality of life in healthy and ill populations.
      Moreover, features of yoga, including a focus on breathing, mental concentration, meditation,
      stress reduction and enhanced mood are likely to have special relevance for smokers who are
      trying to quit. Thus, yoga may be particularly attractive as an alternative for individuals
      who either cannot use medications, or who choose not to use medications while quitting.

      The proposed study will test the efficacy of Yoga as a complementary therapy for smoking
      cessation using a randomized, controlled study design. Adult smokers will be randomly
      assigned to either; 1) Yoga, or 2) an equal contact time Control group (CTL) given a health &
      wellness program to control for contact time. All participants will be provided (separately
      by treatment group assignment) with the same cognitive-behavioral Smoking Cessation
      Counseling (SCC). Smoking abstinence will be measured at the end of treatment (week 8) and at
      3, 6 and 12 months follow-up. We hypothesize that abstinence will be significantly higher in
      the SCC+Yoga group compared to SCC+CTL. We will also test theoretically posited mediators of
      intervention efficacy (e.g., perceived stress, cognitive/perceptual changes), examine the
      cost-efficacy of the yoga intervention, and examine the relationship between maintenance of
      yoga practice during the post-treatment period and smoking status. This study builds on our
      programmatic line of research developing innovative, theory-driven smoking cessation
      therapies.
    

Intervention name(s): Smoking Cessation; Yoga; Wellness
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): Once weekly program of cognitive-behavioral therapy for smoking cessation; Twice weekly program of 1-hour Iyengar yoga classes; Twice weekly program of 1-hour wellness classes on a variety of health topics.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Smoking; Tobacco; Yoga