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CompletedNCT02245308Updated Jan 4, 2022Results posted

Abstinence Reinforcement Therapy (ART) for Homeless Veteran Smokers

A Phase 4 interventional study of Nicotine Patches and mobile contingency management (mCM) in Tobacco Use Disorder and Homelessness, sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-01-04.

Sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
133
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this research study is to examine the effects of a treatment for helping homeless veterans who smoke to stop smoking. Participants in the study will be assigned to one of two study groups. Participants in the first group will be referred to the local Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center's Smoking Cessation Clinic for treatment. Second group participants will receive a behavioral treatment designed to reward smokers for quitting and staying quit. These participants will also receive telephone counseling and medications for smoking cessation.

Read the detailed description

Cigarette smoking is the most lethal substance use disorder in the United States in terms of morbidity and mortality. Veterans who are homeless, along with those who have mental health or substance abuse problems, are at the highest risk for nicotine dependence. Prevalence estimates for smoking among homeless Veterans are 80%. Thus, homeless Veterans are at tremendous risk for smoking related morbidity and mortality. This information suggests that smoking needs to be targeted specifically among this high risk population of smokers.

The addition of contingency management (CM) to existing evidence-based tele-health smoking cessation interventions is expected to be a cost-effective way to increase the reach of intensive smoking cessation treatment. CM is a behavioral therapy that provides positive reinforcers to individuals misusing substances contingent upon objective evidence of abstinence from substance use. Because CM requires verification of abstinence multiple times daily with a clinic-based carbon monoxide (CO) monitor, it has largely been relegated to inpatient and day treatment programs. The application of emerging smart phone technology, however, can overcome this barrier, and may be particularly well suited to homeless Veterans. The innovative smart phone application has made the use of CM for outpatient smoking cessation portable and feasible. The goal of this comparative effectiveness trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a combined tele-health and mobile CM intervention that the investigators are calling Abstinence Reinforcement Therapy (ART). The investigators propose to screen 165 and randomize 126 homeless Veteran smokers to either:

ABSTINENCE REINFORCEMENT THERAPY (ART), a tele-health intervention that combines guideline-based cognitive-behavioral telephone (CBT) counseling, a tele-medicine clinic for access to smoking cessation aids including choice of pharmacotherapy, and intensive behavioral therapy through mCM.

VA SPECIALTY SMOKING CESSATION TREATMENT control, which includes all the elements associated with enrollment in a VA specialty smoking cessation clinic including group counseling, individual telephone counseling, self-help materials, and smoking cessation aids including choice of pharmacotherapy.

Specific aims are to:

AIM 1: Evaluate the impact of ART on rates of abstinence from cigarettes as measured by bio-verified, self-reported prolonged abstinence at post-treatment, and 3-month and 6-month post-randomization follow-ups.

AIM 2: Evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of the ART intervention in quality adjusted life years (QALY).

AIM 3: Evaluate potential treatment mediators including self-efficacy-related mechanisms.

Supplementary AIM: To evaluate the impact of psychiatric (i.e., PTSD, depression and alcohol abuse) symptoms on treatment outcome across the two conditions.

02

Conditions studied

  • Tobacco Use Disorder
  • Homelessness

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Keywords

  • Tobacco use cessation
  • Homelessness
  • Veterans
03

In context

Tobacco Use Disorder

968 studies on the registry are indexed under Tobacco Use Disorder; 126 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 133 is above the median of 89 across 851 interventional studies indexed under Tobacco Use Disorder.

Browse Tobacco Use Disorder studies →

Lead sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development is the lead sponsor of 1,733 studies on the registry; 396 are open to participants now.

Of its 206 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 180 (87%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Veteran
  • Homeless
  • Enrolled in Durham VA Medical Center for medical care
  • Current smoker (at least 10 cigarettes per day)
  • Willing to quit smoking in the next 30 days

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Active substance dependence other than nicotine
  • Uncontrolled psychotic symptoms
  • Severely impaired hearing or speech (must be able to respond to telephone calls)
  • Lack of interest in receiving telephone care
  • Pregnancy
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
133 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    ART

    Participants assigned to this treatment arm will receive a tele-health intervention that combines guideline-based cognitive-behavioral counseling for smoking cessation, a tele-medicine clinic for access to smoking cessation aids, and an intensive behavioral therapy for smoking cessation called mobile contingency management.

    Drug: Nicotine Patches · Behavioral: mobile contingency management (mCM) · Behavioral: Smoking cessation counseling · Drug: Nicotine rescue method · Drug: Bupropion

  • Active comparator
    Control Group

    Participants assigned to this active control arm will be referred to VA Specialty Smoking Cessation Clinic for standard-of-care treatment, which may include group counseling, individual counseling, self-help materials, and smoking cessation aids.

    Drug: Nicotine Patches · Behavioral: Smoking cessation counseling · Drug: Nicotine rescue method · Drug: Bupropion

Interventions

  • DrugNicotine Patches

    Nicotine replacement therapy in the form of nicotine patches will be provided to ART group participants beginning on their smoking quit date. Nicotine patches may be provided to control group participants as part of usual care.

    Also known as: Nicoderm

  • Behavioralmobile contingency management (mCM)

    Mobile contingency management (mCM) is a behavioral intervention designed to provide positive reinforcement for remaining abstinent from smoking. In this intervention, participants are loaned a smart phone equipped with a videocamera and a carbon monoxide (CO) monitor. Participants are trained to upload videos of themselves taking CO readings. Any time a participant uploads a video recording that suggests abstinence (i.e., low CO reading), he/she will be provided a monetary reward.

  • BehavioralSmoking cessation counseling

    Smoking cessation counseling is a cognitive-behavioral treatment designed to prepare participants for a quit attempt, and to address relapse when necessary.

  • DrugNicotine rescue method

    Nicotine replacement therapy in the form of nicotine gum or lozenges will be provided to ART group participants beginning on their smoking quit date. Nicotine gum or lozenges may be provided to control group participants as part of usual care.

    Also known as: Nicorette

  • DrugBupropion

    Bupropion SR may be prescribed to medically eligible ART group participants beginning one week prior to quit date. Bupropion may also be prescribed to control group participants as part of usual care.

    Also known as: Zyban, Wellbutrin

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants Self-reported and Bioverified Abstinent From Smoking

    Smoking abstinence at six months will be measured by self-report and bio-verified by salivary cotinine (a by-product of nicotine found in saliva).

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Intervention Delivery Costs

    Intervention delivery costs (including medication costs, supplies, and incentive pay for abstinence) will be evaluated for treatment and control group.

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Results

Posted Mar 7, 2019

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneAbstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl Group
Started6364
Completed6364
Not completed00

Outcome measures

PrimaryNumber of Participants Self-reported and Bioverified Abstinent From Smoking

Smoking abstinence at six months will be measured by self-report and bio-verified by salivary cotinine (a by-product of nicotine found in saliva).

Time frame:
6 months
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Number of Participants Self-reported and Bioverified Abstinent From Smoking
ParticipantsAbstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl Group
Number of Participants Self-reported and Bioverified Abstinent From Smoking135
SecondaryIntervention Delivery Costs

Intervention delivery costs (including medication costs, supplies, and incentive pay for abstinence) will be evaluated for treatment and control group.

Time frame:
6 months
Reported as:
Mean · dollars
Intervention Delivery Costs
dollarsAbstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl Group
Intervention Delivery Costs618.35 ± 180.02226.00 ± 0

Adverse events

Collected over Adverse event data were collected over a one year period.. Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Abstinence Reinforcement Therapy0/63 (0%)0/63 (0%)15/63 (23.8%)
Control Group0/64 (0%)1/64 (1.6%)18/64 (28.1%)
Most frequent serious events
Most frequent serious events
EventAbstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl Group
High blood pressureCardiac disorders0/631/64
Most frequent other events
Most frequent other events
EventAbstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl Group
Skin irritation or rashSkin and subcutaneous tissue disorders6/6310/64
Nausea or upset stomachGastrointestinal disorders3/633/64
Sleep difficulties or nightmaresGeneral disorders3/633/64
HeadacheNervous system disorders3/632/64

Baseline characteristics

Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Abstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl GroupTotal
Mean53.76 ± 10.2655.72 ± 7.4954.75 ± 8.99
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Abstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl GroupTotal
Female639
Male5761118
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)(Participants)Abstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl GroupTotal
Hispanic or Latino224
Not Hispanic or Latino6062122
Unknown or Not Reported101
Race (NIH/OMB)
Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants)Abstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl GroupTotal
American Indian or Alaska Native022
Asian000
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander000
Black or African American394483
White171128
More than one race7714
Unknown or Not Reported000
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(Participants)Abstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl GroupTotal
United States6364127
Bioverified abstinent from smoking
Bioverified abstinent from smoking(Participants)Abstinence Reinforcement TherapyControl GroupTotal
Count of participants6364127
08

Study locations

1 site
  • Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC
    Durham, North Carolina 27705, United States
09

References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Jul 21, 2017

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 4, 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
NCT02245308
Lead sponsor
VA Office of Research and Development
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 19, 2014
Start date
Oct 1, 2014
Primary completion
Mar 30, 2018
Completion
Sep 28, 2018
Results posted
Mar 7, 2019
Last update
Jan 4, 2022

Study contacts

Jean C Beckham, PhD
principal investigator · Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Dec 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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