• Laura Carim-Todd, Suzanne H Mitchell, and Barry S Oken.
• Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR, USA; Oregon Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine in Neurological Disorders (ORCCAMIND), Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR, USA. Electronic address: carimtod@ohsu.edu.
• Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Oct 1;132(3):399-410.

ObjectiveThe limited success of current smoking cessation therapies encourages research into new treatment strategies. Mind-body practices such as yoga and meditation have the potential to aid smoking cessation and become an alternative drug-free treatment option. The aim of this article is to assess the efficacy of yoga and other meditation-based interventions for smoking cessation, to identify the challenges of clinical trials applying mind-body treatments, and to outline directions for future research on these types of therapies to assist in smoking cessation.MethodsA systematic review of the scientific literature.ResultsFourteen clinical trials met the inclusion criteria defined for this review. Each article was reviewed thoroughly, and evaluated for quality, design, and methodology. Although primary outcomes differed between studies, the fourteen articles, most with limitations, reported promising effects supporting further investigation of the use of these practices to improve smoking cessation.ConclusionsThe literature supports yoga and meditation-based therapies as candidates to assist smoking cessation. However, the small number of studies available and associated methodological problems require more clinical trials with larger sample sizes and carefully monitored interventions to determine rigorously if yoga and meditation are effective treatments.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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