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CompletedNCT02201810FreedomUpdated May 26, 2022

Enhancing the Efficacy of Smoking Quit Line in the Military (AFIII Renewal)

An interventional study of Rate reduction intervention and Recycling Group in Initial Efficacy of Quit Line and Efficacy of Secondary Reengagement Intervention, sponsored by University of Virginia. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-05-26.

Sponsored by University of Virginia · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
614
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is a randomized clinical trial designed to measure the effectiveness of three QL interventions for smokers who failed to quit an initial smoking cessation intervention, but remain motivated to quit smoking.

Read the detailed description

In the investigators' previous QL protocol, FWH20080093H, the investigators documented that a military-tailored QL was associated with high rates of sustained smoking cessation. The proactive QL produced superior cessation rates at a one year follow-up compared to a reactive QL. Unfortunately, even with high rates of cessation, a large number of participants (the majority of participants) fail to remain quit at follow-up. Civilian QLs have observed the same marked decay of sustained cessation rates from the end of treatment to the one year follow-up.

An opportunity exists to reengage these smokers who relapse or fail to quit by the end of QL treatment. Civilian QLs use one of two treatments, Recycling (repeat the smoking cessation counseling) or Rate Reduction (cut down over time), as the primary methods for treatment reengagement. Unfortunately, these methods of reengaging the relapsed/failed to quit smoker have not been systematically evaluated. As such, we propose to randomize participants who relapse or fail to quit by the end of the intervention to either (1) repeating the proactive QL (Recycle); (2) smoking reduction with the goal of eventual cessation (Rate Reduction); or (3) the choice of Recycle or Rate Reduction (Choice). Efficacy will be established by assessing both point prevalence and continuous abstinence at a 12 month follow-up.

All participants (approximately 1900) are consented to follow-up treatment reengagement since we do not know a priori who will quit and who will not quit/relapse. The investigators anticipate, based on the investigators' QL study that about 30% will quit and remain quit based on the eight-week proactive QL and about 70% will either not quit or relapse (n≈1300). Those that are smoking at the three-month follow-up are stratified (based on whether they quit and relapsed vs. not quitting at all in the Proactive QL based upon self-report) and randomized to the three treatment reengagement strategies (Recycle, Rate Reduction, or Choice), each one lasting 8 weeks. Then, at one year follow-up, the investigators will assess both point prevalence and continuous abstinence. Since we are intervening on those that initially failed to quit or relapsed, continuous abstinence will be defined from the point of the last treatment reengagement intervention (one year from that point).

02

Conditions studied

  • Initial Efficacy of Quit Line
  • Efficacy of Secondary Reengagement Intervention

Keywords

  • smoking cessation
  • quit line
  • nicotine replacement therapy
  • tobacco intervention
03

In context

Lead sponsor

University of Virginia is the lead sponsor of 653 studies on the registry; 134 are open to participants now.

Of its 60 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 41 (68%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: To be included, individuals will be

  • Active Duty, Retired, or Dependent with Tricare benefits
  • Participants must be at least 18 years old
  • Smoked five or more cigarettes a day for at least one year
  • Live in the 48 contiguous states, Alaska or Hawaii
  • Participants must have the ability to understand consent procedures, and have access to a telephone for participation
  • Seriously thinking of quitting smoking cigarettes in the next 30 days

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Persons who have a known or unknown knowledge of an allergy or hypersensitivity to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
  • Women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant during the next 12 months
  • Persons diagnosed with an unstable heart condition will be excluded as NRT is contraindicated in these groups
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
614 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    2nd level intervention: Rate Reduction

    Rate reduction intervention

    Behavioral: Rate reduction intervention · Behavioral: Proactive QL

  • Experimental
    2nd level intervention: Recycling

    Recycling Group

    Behavioral: Recycling Group · Behavioral: Proactive QL

  • Experimental
    2nd level intervention: Choice

    Choice Group

    Behavioral: Choice Group · Behavioral: Proactive QL

Interventions

  • BehavioralRate reduction intervention
  • BehavioralRecycling Group
  • BehavioralChoice Group
  • BehavioralProactive QL
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Effectiveness of randomized reengagement interventions

    We will assess tobacco status (both 7-day point prevalence and continuous abstinence) at the follow-up period (one year after reengagement interventions are completed) to assess outcome.

    Time frame: From 3 months follow up to 1 year follow up

Secondary outcomes

  1. One-year outcome from the initially successful group that quit smoking

    Time frame: 1-yr after initial randomization

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center
    Lackland Air Force Base, Texas 78236, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Little MA, Ebbert JO, Bursac Z, Talcott GW, Talley L, LeRoy KM, Womack CR, Hryshko-Mullen AS, Klesges RC. Enhancing the efficacy of a smoking quit line in the military: Study rationale, design and methods of the Freedom quit line. Contemp Clin Trials. 2017 Aug;59:51-56. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2017.04.011. Epub 2017 May 4. No abstract available. PubMed 28479219 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 26, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02201810
Lead sponsor
University of Virginia
Collaborators
University of Tennessee
Responsible party
Melissa Little, PhD, MPH (Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 28, 2014
Start date
May 2015
Primary completion
Nov 30, 2020
Completion
Nov 30, 2020
Last update
May 26, 2022

Study contacts

Robert Klesges, PhD
principal investigator · UTHSC
Wayne Talcott, PhD
principal investigator · UTHSC

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in May 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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