Home › Quitting Smoking › NCT05513872

Overcoming Nicotine Dependence to Enable Quitting

A Mechanistic Test of Treatment Strategies to Foster Practice Quitting

Who can join

Ages 18 and older · All sexes

Inclusion Criteria:

Eligible participants will be males and females who:

1. are 18 years or older
2. report current daily cigarette smoking (≥ 5 cigarettes per day)
3. are not planning to quit in the next 30 days
4. are not currently engaged in smoking cessation treatment
5. are motivated to quit or engage in a non-cessation goal (i.e., reduce smoking, learn more about treatment options, and/ or try out skills to change smoking) in the next 6 months
6. are English speaking
7. reside in the continental United States
8. have access to a smartphone that can be used to complete study procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants will be excluded for daily vaping/ electronic cigarettes use (i.e., use for ≥ 25 days within past 30 days) and any FDA contraindications for NRT use if they:

1. are pregnant/breastfeeding
2. had recent cardiovascular trauma such as myocardial infarction
3. had a stroke within the past 3 months

About the study

Tobacco use disorder is a chronic, relapsing health condition that necessitates a chronic care approach. However, traditional smoking cessation treatment programs allocate nearly all their resources only to those smokers who are willing to set a quit date. This is problematic because few smokers are ready to set a quit date at any given time, and a smoker's stated intention to quit can change rapidly.

One novel potential treatment strategy is to foster practice quitting (PQ), defined as attempting to not smoke for a few hours or days, without pressure or expectation to permanently quit. Although a growing body of evidence supports the role of practice quitting in fostering permanent quit attempts and cessation, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding which treatment strategies should be used to engage smokers in practice quitting. The proposed study will test the role of PQ counseling vs. Motivational Interviewing (MI) counseling, and NRT sampling (four-week supply of nicotine lozenges and patches) vs. none.

What is being tested

• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) Sampling (drug)
• Practice Quitting (PQ) Counseling (behavioral)
• Motivational Interviewing (MI) Counseling (behavioral)

Sponsor: Rush University Medical Center · Participants: 780 · Started: Mar 24, 2023

Contact the study team

• Maritza Esqueda-Medina · Phone: 312-563-3702
• Amanda Mathew · Phone: 312-563-1273

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT05513872

Locations in the U.S.

Conditions

• Quitting Smoking
• Smoking and Youth
• Quitting Smoking (Tobacco Use Disorder)

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.