N/A N=13 Treatment

Working Memory Training on Delay Discounting Among Cigarette Smokers

Tobacco Use Disorder/Cigarette Smoking

Bottom Line

View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05210608 ↗

Enrolled (actual)

Serious AEs

—

Results posted

Feb 2025

Primary outcome: Primary: Delay Discounting — -5.21; -6.57; -7.13 k-value — p=.29

Study Design & Population

Study type: Interventional
Phase: N/A
Interventions: Working Memory Training + Behavioral Intervention (Behavioral)
Age: Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
Sex: All
Sponsor: University of Kansas Medical Center
Primary completion: Jun 2022

Outcome Measures

Outcome	Result	p-value
PRIMARY Delay Discounting	-5.21; -6.57; -7.13	.29
PRIMARY Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB): Number of Total Cigarettes Smoked Per Week	76.53; 38.83; 59.50	=0.015 sig
PRIMARY Carbon Monoxide Levels	17.70; 17.67; 30	.90
PRIMARY Working Memory	58.61; 61.33; 71.25	.18

Summary

Despite widespread awareness of significant negative health consequences, cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the US (Creamer et al., 2019; Jamal, 2018). Moreover, the highest rate of smoking and heaviest burden of smoking-related illness occurs among low-socioeconomic status (SES) individuals relative to higher SES groups (Businelle et al., 2010; Clegg et al., 2009). Low SES individuals are also 40% less likely to succeed in quitting smoking when they attempt to do so (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health, 2014). One potential explanation for the disparity in rate of smoking and successful quit attempts may be differences in individual rates of delay discounting (DD), i.e., the degree to which rewards loses their value as the delays to their receipt increase (Odum, 2011). A proposed way to reduce steep DD and, potentially, substance use has been computer training for working memory, which has shown favorable results in a sample of individuals with stimulant dependence (Bickel et al., 2011) and substance use broadly (Felton et al., 2019), with the latter even showing decreases in cigarette smoking in a subset of the sample.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion criteria: To be included in this study, a participant must be 18 years of age or older, who have smoked at least four cigarettes per day for at least 6 months, are interested in quitting cigarette smoking, are at or below the federal poverty line based on persons in family/household and annual household income:

1 -- $12,880
2 -- $17,420
3 -- $21,960
4 - $26,500
5 -- $31,040
6 -- $35,580
7 -- $40,120
8 -- $44,660
9 - add $4, 540 for each additional person,

OR they or their child(ren) utilize a federal program for low-income individuals, and are willing to participate in a 5-week working memory training program as a pretreatment adjunct to behavioral group + nicotine replacement therapy (NRT; via nicotine patches).

Exclusion criteria: Participants must not indicate a severe substance use disorder according to the DSM-V with any substance other than tobacco or have any significant medical or psychiatric condition. Such conditions could include traumatic brain injury, dementia, significant learning disability, or psychotic symptoms. Participants must be at least at a 5th-grade reading level. In case that participants are excluded, they will be provided with resources in the community and provided with contact information for the Kansas Tobacco Quitline.

View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05210608). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.