Associations of Prayer, Mind-Body Therapy, and Smoking Cessation in a National Survey

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death. Many people use mind-body therapies and/or prayer to assist them in smoking cessation, but more information on their effectiveness is needed. In the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, 5,864 persons aged 18 or older reported smoking in the prior 12 mo.; among these, users of any of 10 mind-body therapies or prayer were compared to nonusers to assess smoking cessation attempts and smoking cessation over a 1-yr. period. Weighted logistic regression showed that the adjusted odds of reporting quit attempts during the year prior to interview or of reporting no longer smoking at interview were significantly higher in those using prayer alone, any mind-body therapy alone, or both, compared with those who used neither. In the subset of 2,839 persons who reported smoking 12 mo. prior to interview and attempting to quit during the year prior to interview, the odds of reporting no longer smoking at interview were no greater for those who used prayer, any mind-body therapy, or both, than in those using neither.