Marcela Haasova. BSc, MSc
Haasova M., Oh H. & Taylor A. T. The acute effects of brisk walking and isometric exercise versus rest on cigarette cravings and attentional bias. Paper presented at ASH Wales; October 2011; Cardiff, UK. Abstract: It is well established that short bouts of exercise can reduce self-reported cravings and withdrawal symptoms (Taylor et al., 2007) and one study showed a reduced attentional bias (AB; using eye-tracking technology) to smoking cues (Janse Van Rensburg et al., 2009) compared with rest. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of walking and isometric exercise on cigarette cravings and AB. After a temporary CO confirmed (<10ppm) abstinence (11.97hrs, SD=14.82), 20 (13m,7f) regular smokers (≥10 cigarettes a day; age 30.9yrs, SD=9.56), were randomly allocated to 10 min of walking or isometric exercise or passive condition on separate days in a cross-over design. Measures of Strength of Desire to smoke (SoD; West et al., 1989) and Desire to smoke (DtS; Tiffany & Drobes, 1991) were recorded. Matched pairs (for shape, size, luminescence, etc) of smoking-related images were randomly presented on a computer screen for 2000 ms, then replaced by a dot probe (E-prime v1.2), before and after each condition. Subjects responded on a designated key to indicate if the probe was on the left or right of the screen as quickly as possible. The Reaction Time (RT) in detecting targets replacing salient images was subtracted from RT in detecting targets replacing control images and used as an indication of AB. One-way ANOVA’s (SPSSv.16) confirmed no differences in baseline values. Fully repeated two-way ANOVA’s revealed a significant condition x time interaction for SoD (F(6,11)=11.67, p<0.01) and non-significant condition x time interaction for DtS (FGG(3.56,67.58)=2.28, p=0.08). Post hoc analyses identified a decrease in post intervention scores for SoD in both exercise conditions. No effects of exercise were found on AB scores. Results suggest that smokers wishing to use exercise as an aid to reduce cravings could use both, walking and isometric exercise. It may be that direct measurements of AB, such as eye-tracking technology are needed to investigate effects of exercise on AB.
