Using Smartwatches to Monitor Smoking in Real-life Situations

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions studied: Smoking

In brief

Background: It is important to quickly identify when people are at risk of smoking. Most current methods rely on people reporting when they smoke or what makes them want to smoke. But this can be hard for people to do and may not always be accurate. Other methods use special gadgets to identify smoking movements, but these may not always work well in real life. We want to see if we can use devices available on the market such as smartwatches to identify signs in the body and hand movements that might indicate when someone is about to smoke, is currently smoking, or has just smoked. Objective: To record body signs and hand movements before, during, and after smoking in real-life and in a lab to see how they change when someone is craving cigarettes, while a person is smoking, and after a person has smoked. Eligibility: People who are 21 years or older and smoke, have no college degree or be currently enrolled in college, and are low-income earners. To participate in the study, participants have to pass a breath test that shows they smoke cigarettes and, for women, a urine test to show that they are not currently pregnant. Design: Participants will complete an eligibility survey to see if they qualify to be in the study. If they qualify, they will answer a brief baseline survey that includes questions about themselves, their health, and their smoking behavior. Participants will get a smartwatch to wear for 3 days at home, log each time they are about to smoke and have finished smoking, and answer a 5-question health survey via the app. They will get instructions on how to set up and wear the smartwatch. They will download a mobile application on their phone. The app will collect data from the smartwatch. Participants will then come to the lab but will be asked not to smoke or drink alcohol for at least 12 hours. They will have to take a breath test to show they have not smoked or had alcohol. They will also give a blood sample. In the lab, they will sit in a room where they will be hooked to devices that monitor their vitals such as heart rate and blood pressure for one hour. They will also wear a smartwatch on each hand. While they are in the smoking room, they will go through 3 different phases: (a) pre-smoking where they will be asked to stay seated for about 25 minutes, (b) smoking where they will be asked to smoke as many cigarettes of their choice as they want for about 10 to 15 minutes, (c) post-smoking where they will be asked to stay seated, not smoking, for about 25 minutes. They will answer a brief 10-minute health survey before and after the session. Participation will last for 3 days of home monitoring and 2 visits to the research clinic that last about 2 hours.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT07067151
Run by
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
People needed
30
Starts
2026-08-13
Expected to finish
2028-03-20
Last updated by the study team
2026-08-10

Who can join

Age: 21 and older, up to 120. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may not qualify if…

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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