Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Cigarette Craving

Preliminary Study of Effects of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Cigarette Craving and Withdrawal Symptoms of Experienced Smokers in Acute Cigarette Abstinence : A Randomised Control Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02153775

Enrollment

Registered

2014-06-03

Start date

2012-08-31

Completion date

2012-11-30

Last updated

2014-06-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Addiction

Keywords

Progressive muscle relaxation, Cigarette, Smoking, Craving

Brief summary

Cigarette craving usually occurs with unpleasant feelings, including stress. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) may reduce level of cigarette craving and/or withdrawal symptoms.

Detailed description

The study reports on a study investigating the acute effects of a one-time application of progressive muscle relaxation on craving for cigarettes in smokers who were instructed to abstain from cigarettes for 3 hours.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALProgressive Muscle Relaxation

Comparison of progressive muscle relaxation and no intervention (e.g., reading newspaper of the day) for the same amount of time.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Age 18 years or more * Daily cigarette smokers

Exclusion criteria

* Hospitalization * Participating in cigarette dependency treatment or trying to quit smoking with other methods * Uncontrolled blood pressure * Current other substance users (except alcohol)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Craving	Immediately after a 20-minutes session of progressive muscle relaxation	Craving, a strong desire for using a substance when abstaining from substance, was measured by the Penn Alcohol Rating Scale - adapted (PACS-adapted) and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Cigarette withdrawal-related and non-withdrawal related feelings	Immediately after a 20-minutes session of progressive muscle relaxation	Cigarette withdrawal symptoms (i.e., anxious, hungry, feeling bad, restless) and non-withdrawal (i.e., high, stimulated, paranoid, tongue - tied) (59-61), as measured by using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Other

Measure	Time frame	Description
Blood pressure	Immediately after a 20-minutes session of progressive muscle relaxation	Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, measured by an automated machine
Pulse rate	Immediately after a 20-minutes session of progressive muscle relaxation	Pulse rate, measured by an automated machine

Countries

Thailand

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026