Background This study examined the effectiveness of using Physical Activity Consultation (PAC) as an addition to the standard smoking cessation treatment in Malaysia. We explored participants’ experiences in terms of physical activity and smoking abstinence with the combined PAC and smoking cessation intervention.MethodsWalk-in smokers from a local smoking cessation clinic volunteered for the 8-week intervention program, while undergoing standard smoking cessation treatment. In Week 1, a facilitator conducted a face-to-face intervention to explore participants’ involvement in physical activity and helped to set physical activity strategies and goals for participants to increase physical activity levels. Participants were provided with follow-up phone calls at Weeks 3 and 6. Participants answered questionnaires that measured smoking withdrawal (Shiffman–Jarvik Withdrawal Scale), cessation self-efficacy (Cessation Self-efficacy Questionnaire), physical activity involvement (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and mood (Brunel Mood Scale) upon recruitment, at post-intervention and at follow-up 3 months after the intervention ended. Participants also responded to interviews about their experiences with the PAC and smoking cessation treatment at post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up.ResultsSeven participants completed the program until follow-up. All were successfully abstinent. Only two participants increased physical activity levels, whereas others maintained their physical activity levels or showed slight decreases. Several themes were identified in this study, including participants’ experiences with withdrawal symptoms, smoking cessation self-efficacy, triggers to smoking cessation, thoughts on standard smoking cessation treatment in Malaysia, physical activity involvement, mood, and thoughts and beliefs on combining smoking cessation and physical activity.ConclusionsThis study suggests PAC was helpful in maintaining or increasing the overall physical activity levels of participants and could assist with smoking abstinence. Findings showed that all participants who stayed in the program were successfully abstinent. In general, the findings in this study provided promising results for further research on PAC as an adjunct to smoking cessation treatments in Malaysia. Trial registration This intervention is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial registration number: ACTRN12616000269437).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-3675-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundSmoking tobacco is a major concern in Malaysia, with 23.1% of Malaysian adults smoking tobacco in 2012. Withdrawal symptoms and self-efficacy to quit smoking have been shown to have significant effects on the outcomes of smoking cessation. The Shiffman-Jarvik Withdrawal Scale (Psychopharmacology, 50: 35-39, 1976) and the Cessation Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (Cognitive Ther Res 5: 175-187, 1981) are two questionnaires that have been widely used in various smoking cessation research. The short SJWS consists of 15 items with five subscales: physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, stimulation/sedation, appetite, and cravings. The CSEQ is a 12-item questionnaire that assesses participant’s self-efficacy to avoid smoking in various situations described in each item. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Malay language version of the SJWS and the CSEQ.MethodsThe SJWS and CSEQ were translated into the Malay language based on the back translation method. A total of 146 participants (25.08 ± 5.19 years) answered the translated questionnaires. Psychometrics properties such as reliability (internal consistency and test-retest) and validity (content validity, construct validity and face validity) were examined.ResultsBoth questionnaires showed acceptable internal consistency; SJWS-M (α = 0.66) and CSEQ-M (α = 0.90) and good test-retest reliability; SJWS-M (r = 0.76) and the CSEQ-M (r = 0.80). SJWS-M (χ2 = 15.964, GFI = 0.979, CFI = 1.000, RMSEA = 0.000, ChiSq/df = 0.939, AGFI = 0.933, TLI = 1.004, and NPI = 0.978) and CSEQ-M (of χ2 = 35.16, GFI = 0.960, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.015, ChiSq/df = 1.034, AGFI = 0.908, TLI = 0.999, and NPI = 0.979) also showed good construct validity. Both questionnaires showed sufficient item to item convergent validity and item discriminant validity. Content validity was established (reassess) by experts in the field of psychology, culture and language whereas face validity was confirmed by smokers.ConclusionsThe translated Malay version of the CSEQ-M and the SJWS-M showed great reliability and validity evidences therefore is an adequate and useful instrument to evaluate Malaysian smokers. Future studies could investigate differences in self-esteem between long-term and short-term smokers and evaluate the usability of these questionnaires in local smoking research and other Malay speaking countries (Brunei and Indonesia).