The Impacts of Supervised Exercise Intervention on Tobacco Withdrawal Symptoms

Nur-Hasanah Ruslan; Siti Munira Yasin; Nadzimah Mohd Nasir; Mohamad Rodi Isa

doi:10.1177/1179173X231179811

The Impacts of Supervised Exercise Intervention on Tobacco Withdrawal Symptoms

Tob Use Insights. 2023 May 27:16:1179173X231179811. doi: 10.1177/1179173X231179811. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Nur-Hasanah Ruslan¹, Siti Munira Yasin², Nadzimah Mohd Nasir³, Mohamad Rodi Isa²

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
² Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh, Malaysia.
³ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh, Malaysia.

Abstract

This study examined a supervised moderate-intensity aerobic exercise programme's effectiveness in regulating the Tobacco Withdrawal Symptoms (TWS) during temporary abstinence. This was a single group, pre and post-quasi intervention study. Thirty daily smokers participated in an 8-week supervised moderate-intensity aerobic exercise programme. We assessed the TWS, smoking urge, mood and stress-pleasure related hormonal variables after the aerobic exercise intervention. The measurements were conducted after overnight abstinence at baseline, post-intervention (at week-8) and post-detraining (at week-10). TWS components, smoking urge and mood were found to improve. For hormonal variables, cortisol and beta-endorphin except adrenaline showed insignificant changes at post-intervention and de-training. The findings suggest moderate-intensity exercise might help in reducing withdrawal symptoms and its adverse effects. Thus, exercise is an effective adjunct treatment in a smoking cessation programme.

Keywords: adrenaline; beta endorphin; cortisol; mood; smoking urge; supervised exercise intervention; tobacco withdrawal symptoms.