Between Inhale and Exhale: Yoga as an Intervention in Smoking Cessation.

Author: Dai CL1, Sharma M.
Affiliation: 1University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Conference/Journal: J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med.
Date published: 2014 Feb 25
Other: Word Count: 134



The current study provided a review of evidence-based yoga interventions' impact on smoking cessation. The researchers reviewed articles obtained from MEDLINE (PubMed), EBSCOHOST, PROQUEST, MEDINDIA, CINAHL, Alt HealthWatch, and AMED databases. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) study published between 2004 and 2013, (b) study published in English language, (c) study used yoga-based interventions, (d) study involved smokers with varying level of smoking, (e) study used any quantitative design, and (f) study had physiological and/or psychological outcomes. A total of 10 studies met the inclusion criteria. Designs were 2 pre-post tests and 8 randomized controlled trials. Majority of the interventions were able to enhance quitting smoking rates in the participants under study. Yoga-based interventions hold promise for smoking cessation. Some of the limitations include short follow-up measurements and short duration of intervention.
KEYWORDS:
smoking, smoking cessation, yoga

PMID: 24647095