The goal of the study is to determine whether a two-month stretch of exercise performed at moderate intensity or the same length of participation in a women's wellness program will help women quit smoking and stay smoke-free.
Women who want to quit smoking may want to consider joining "Commit to Quit," a free program designed by women for women.
The Miriam Hospital program takes place one night per week for eight weeks. In addition to smoking-cessation classes, treatments include health or exercise sessions, and within Providence, free child care and transportation. Free nicotine patches will be available upon request.
The goal of the study is to determine whether a two-month stretch of exercise performed at moderate intensity or the same length of participation in a women's wellness program will help women quit smoking and stay smoke-free.
The program's latest findings were published June 14 in Archives of Internal Medicine. The study followed 281 healthy but sedentary women who ranged in age from 18 to 65 and had smoked regularly for at least a year.
About half of the women attended a weekly smoking cessation program and thrice-weekly wellness sessions for 12 weeks. The other women attended the smoking cessation program and participated in supervised exercise sessions three times a week for 12 weeks.
The researchers found that women who exercised vigorously were twice as likely to kick the habit and gained about half the weight of those who also tried to quit but didn't do the workouts. The highest percentage of women who stopped smoking and stayed cigarette-free was the group who attended at least two-thirds of the exercise sessions, an indication of the powerful effect of vigorous activity.
"The study results indicate that smoking cessation programs designed for women that include a wellness component or an exercise regimen can be significantly more successful than generic programs," said Bess Marcus, who leads the project. "We can build in measures to help women cope with fears of gaining weight if they stop smoking."
In the new eight-week study, women will be assigned to a weekly supervised program of moderate-intensity exercise or to weekly health sessions, where they will receive supervised wellness education presentations. All of the women will also attend behavior therapy sessions on smoking cessation. After one year, Marcus and colleagues will evaluate the progress of every participant.
Marcus urges physicians to recommend exercise to both female and male patients who want to quit smoking. She is involved in several projects that help physicians counsel patients to include exercise in their daily routines.
"There is every reason to believe that men trying to quit smoking would benefit from exercise just as much as women," Marcus said. "There are numerous health benefits to participating in an exercise program. For starters, exercise helps you manage weight, stress, mood, anxiety, depression and blood lipids."
The program will start in September. Thereafter, new groups will begin every two months. For details, call Erica at 793-3725.
Marcus is an associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior in Brown's Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine. The research is conducted through the center and the Division of Cardiology, both located at The Miriam Hospital.