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Researchers will explore link between menstrual cycle and smoking cessation success
University of Arizona researchers will explore whether women's menstrual cycle could be related to the likelihood of successfully quitting smoking.
Researchers at the Colleges of Public Health and Medicine will study whether the timing of a woman's quit date during the menstrual cycle could affect cessation rates for women receiving four weeks of nicotine replacement therapy and six weeks of telephone-based behavioral counseling.
“We know that craving and withdrawal can vary across the menstrual cycle, but we don't yet know if targeting a specific menstrual cycle phase to quit smoking will help women quit,” said co-principal investigator Alicia Allen, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the university's Department of Family and Community Medicine.
The study, which will enroll 116 women ages 18 to 40 who receive help from Arizona's free smoking quitline service, is being funded with a two-year grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
