A Virtual Arm to Stop Smoking

NCT00639093 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: GRAP-CRC-cyberpsychologie
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 91
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators reported in a pilot study presented at last year's Cybertherapy Conference (Girard \& Turcotte, 2007) that using an action-cue exposure strategy in virtual reality (ACE-VR; crushing virtual cigarettes) might be useful in the treatment of tobacco addiction. The investigators are pursuing research in this area with a randomized control trial based on 90 smokers who will receive a brief psychosocial smoking cessation program (25 people are enrolled so far and we expect to finish the study before the conference). During the first four weeks of an eight-session psychoeducational and motivational program, all participants will be immersed in VR. During the immersions in VR, 45 of the participants will use a virtual arm to catch and crush virtual cigarettes. The other half of the sample will use the virtual arm to catch virtual fruits (control condition). The smoking frequency, and abstinence, will be assessed with a daily diary and exhaled carbon monoxide tests (the CO2 tests will provide an objective confirmation of the abstinence reported in the diaries). The success the program will be compared based on the number of subjects who quitted or reduced their smoking frequency. The severity of addiction will be assessed with two questionnaires, the Fagerstrom and the Horn tests. Craving and withdrawal effects will be measured with the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale (MNWS) and the Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges (QSU-Brief) at the baseline and at the visits from weeks 1 through 4, 6, 12 and at the end of the program. Before the VR immersion, the Immersive Tendencies Questionnaire will be administered and after each VR session participants will fill two questionnaires addressing presence and cybersickness. The comparative impact of both treatments will be tested with repeated measures ANOVAs (and planned contrasts) with sufficient power to detect medium effect sizes. The main goal of our study is show that crushing virtual cigarettes can boost the impact of a behavioural program dedicated to cigarette addiction.

Conditions

Cigarette Smoking

Keywords

cigarette smoking; psychoeducational and motivational program; virtual reality

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Self-report Measure of Abstinence in the Last 7 Days, Averaged Over Four Weeks, and Confirmed by Urine Samples.

  Participants completed a daily diary to record the number cigarettes smoked during the day. No cigarette smoked during 7 days = abstinence. To be counted as real abstinence, the participant had to smoke zero cigarettes during four weeks and confirmed by zero nicoting in the unrine sample. Six measurement times were used to assess if zero cigarettes has been smoked in the last 4 weeks prior to the study (Week 1), during the first four weeks (Week 4 measurement point) and so on for a blok of four weeks ending at each measurement point (e.g., four weeks before the 12-month follow-up).

  Weeks 1, 4, 6, 12, 24 and 12-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Tiffany's Urge to Smoke Questionnaire

  Weeks 1, 4, 6, 12, 24 and 12-month follow-up

Study Arms (2)

1

EXPERIMENTAL

All participants will receive an eight-session psychoeducational and motivational program. During the first four weeks, all participants will be immersed in virtual reality (VR). During the immersions in VR, 45 of the participants will use a virtual reality arm to catch and crush virtual cigarettes (on a computer).

Behavioral: psychoeducational / motivational combined with crushing

2

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

All participants will receive an eight-session psychoeducational and motivational program. During the first four weeks, all participants will be immersed in virtual reality (VR). During the immersions in VR, the 45 participants in the control condition will use a virtual reality arm to catch and crush virtual fruits (on a computer).

Behavioral: psychoeducational / motivational combined with control

Interventions

psychoeducational / motivational combined with crushing BEHAVIORAL

All participants will receive an eight-session psychoeducational and motivational program. During the first four weeks, all participants will be immersed in virtual reality (VR). During the immersions in VR, 45 of the participants will use a virtual reality arm to catch and crush virtual cigarettes (on a computer).

1

psychoeducational / motivational combined with control BEHAVIORAL

All participants will receive an eight-session psychoeducational and motivational program. During the first four weeks, all participants will be immersed in virtual reality (VR). During the immersions in VR, the 45 participants in the control condition will use a virtual reality arm to catch and crush virtual fruits (on a computer).

2

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• adult smoker
• aged 18 - 65
• willing to stop smoking
• at least 10 cigarettes per day in the last year

You may not qualify if:

• receiving concomitant treatment for smoking (e.g., patches or varenicline)
• weight problems : Body Mass Index \< 15 kg or \> 45.5 kg
• suffering from a mental disorder, such as major depression, schizophrenia, etc.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universite du Quebec en Outaouais: lead

Study Sites (1)

GRAP - Clinique de psychologie au travail

Jonquière, Quebec, G7X 0A4, Canada

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Girard, B., & Turcotte, V. (2007). A virtual arm to stop smoking, a perceptual learning experiment. In N. Appel & H. Hoffman (Chairs), Addictions. Symposium presented at the Cybertherapy 12 Conference, in June in Washington, D.C.

  BACKGROUND

• Martin RA, Rohsenow DJ, MacKinnon SV, Abrams DB, Monti PM. Correlates of motivation to quit smoking among alcohol dependent patients in residential treatment. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2006 Jun 9;83(1):73-8. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2005.10.013. Epub 2005 Nov 28.

  PMID: 16314049 BACKGROUND

• Girard B, Turcotte V, Bouchard S, Girard B. Crushing virtual cigarettes reduces tobacco addiction and treatment discontinuation. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2009 Oct;12(5):477-83. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0118.

  PMID: 19817561 DERIVED

Related Links

• Click here for more information about this study about the virtual arm
• Click here for more information about clinical applications of virtual reality
• For more information about using VR to treat smoking

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Cigarette Smoking

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Tobacco Smoking; Smoking; Behavior; Tobacco Use

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Benoît Girard
• Organization: GRAP, Clinique de Psychologie au Travail

g.r.a.p@videotron.ca

418-542-2030

Study Officials

• Benoit Girard, M.D.

  G.R.A.P.

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Stephane Bouchard, Ph.D.

  U.Q.O.

  STUDY CHAIR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 12, 2008
• First Posted: March 19, 2008
• Study Start: March 1, 2008
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2008
• Study Completion: June 1, 2009
• Last Updated: July 2, 2012
• Results First Posted: July 31, 2009

Record last verified: 2012-06

Locations

CA (1)