Paramedics and texts team up to help reluctant smokers quit
NCT ID NCT05790486
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests whether paramedics in rural areas can help smokers who aren't ready to quit by offering a text-based program called Take a Break, along with nicotine lozenges. The program includes a two-week smoke-free challenge and coaching calls. Researchers will track how many people join and whether they successfully reduce smoking, measured by carbon monoxide levels. The goal is to find new ways to reach smokers who have been left out of most quit-smoking programs.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) lozenges plus a text-based behavioral program called Take a Break
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could provide a practical way to help rural smokers who aren't ready to quit start cutting back or stopping.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage trial focused on engagement, not a proven quit method. Results may not apply to all smokers, and success depends on participants sticking with the program.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 800 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2023
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Current Smoker * at least 18 years old * speaks English * Able to receive texts and read text (literate) * Have a text-enabled phone or receive one from the study team * Not yet ready to quit smoking Exclusion Criteria: * actively quitting smoking * preparing to quit smoking within 30 days * prisoners * FDA- defined NRT contraindications * unable or unwilling to provide informed consent
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Wake Forest University Health Sciences
RECRUITINGWinston-Salem, North Carolina, 27157, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can a WhatsApp message help smokers quit?
- Practice quitting: a new way to help smokers who Aren't ready to stop?