VR meditation may help smokers kick the habit

NCT ID NCT05766553

Symptom relief Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study tests whether mindfulness meditation in virtual reality can reduce cigarette cravings and help people quit smoking. Two hundred smokers will be split into two groups: one gets six VR meditation sessions over six weeks, and the other uses nicotine patches and gum. Researchers will check if participants have relapsed at three and six months.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: virtual reality mindfulness meditation
What this could lead to: If it works, this could offer a non-drug option to help people quit smoking by reducing cravings.
What could go wrong: This is an early-stage study with 200 participants, and the results rely on self-reported smoking habits, which may not be fully accurate. The approach may not work for everyone.

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

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

About 200 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Jun 2023

Expected to finish

Dec 2026

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

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

18 to 75 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show 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: * Any patient consuming 10 to 40 cigarettes per day * Woman or man aged 18 to 75 inclusive * Substance use disorder according to the DSM5 classification * Benefit from social security or benefit from it through a third party in accordance with French law on research involving the human person * Having signed the informed consent form after having received written information. Exclusion Criteria: * Disabling cognitive disorders * Patient under 18 or over 75 years old. * Patient with a psychological disorder or a psychiatric pathology requiring specialized follow-up * Patient with addiction to another product. * Cardiological pathologies that could compromise the participation of patients, detected by an ECG (only for patients who will be randomized in the experimental group). * Advanced pulmonary, renal, and hepatic diseases, or any unstable and serious medical conditions that could compromise the patient's participation in the study, subject to the judgment of the doctor * Pregnant or breastfeeding woman * Simultaneous participation in another trial * Employee of the investigator or of the clinical trial site * Patients protected by law * Patients who do not speak the French language * People not covered by state health insurance * Patients who in the opinion of the investigator are unable to complete the questionnaires * Patient claustrophobic or anxious about using the cabin * Patient allergic to a molecule present in nicotine substitutes

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

nicotine dependence Recurrence

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Tobacco use disorder

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

3 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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.

VR meditation may help smokers kick the habit

What the study statuses mean