The trial of the Physical Activity and Reduction of Smoking (TARS) study, led by the University of Plymouth with funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research, took place in four pre-COVID cities – Plymouth, Nottingham, Oxford and London. 19 Pandemic.
Its aim was to provide a definitive answer as to whether future NHS services should be adapted to provide additional support to people who are not ready to quit, but who want to reduce their smoking. With the hope of increasing continued abstinence from the health benefits.
The study also sought to address previous suggestions that behavioral support for these smokers could lead to reduced smoking and greater attempts to quit.
To answer these questions, half of the 915 smokers recruited into the study were offered eight, weekly face-to-face or phone motivational support sessions to reduce their smoking and increase moderate to vigorous physical activity. Went. This was an approach that had previously shown encouraging signs in the Plymouth pilot study, and was in stark contrast to the other half of participants, who were given the usual NHS advice on quitting.
The study showed that engaging with motivational support had some short-term benefits, with 19% of those receiving additional support saying they had halved the number of cigarettes they smoked for at least three months – 14% Nine months later , he had still halved his smoking . In contrast, about 10% of those receiving standard advice reported halving their cigarette intake at both milestones.
However, only 2% of those who received the additional support had abstained from smoking for between three and nine months. Less than 1% of those who received the standard advice managed to abstain from smoking for those six months.
In addition, while those who received additional support after three months participated in 81 minutes more physical activity each week than those who received no support, the researchers did not find evidence of a sustained difference in physical activity over nine months.
With additional support costs to health services in the region of £240 per person, the study authors say their findings suggest that this approach is not effective for long-term smoking cessation or cost-effective.
Life Style
