Peer Recovery Coaching for Tobacco Abstinence in People With Opioid Use Disorder

Launched by MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · May 1, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new approach to help people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who also smoke cigarettes. Many individuals with OUD also struggle with tobacco use, and traditional treatments for quitting smoking don't work as well for them. The trial aims to see if support from peer recovery coaches—who are people in recovery from OUD themselves—can help these individuals quit smoking more effectively than standard methods. The peer coaches will provide personalized coaching along with FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to help participants stop smoking.

To be eligible for this trial, participants must be adults (18 years or older) who currently smoke at least five cigarettes a day and want to quit or cut down in the next three months. They should also be stable on their OUD medication, verified by their healthcare provider. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the new peer support program with NRT or the standard smoking cessation support. The trial will take place over 12 weeks and is not yet recruiting participants. This research is important as it seeks to find better ways to support those facing both opioid and tobacco use challenges, ultimately aiming to improve their health and recovery.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Adults (≥ 18 years of age)
• • reporting current daily cigarette smoking (≥ 5 cigarettes per day in past 7 days),
• • who are interested in quitting or cutting down on smoking in the next 3 months (yes/no),
• • stable on their medication treatment for OUD (MOUD) at MGH (confirmed with patient's buprenorphine prescriber).
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • life expectancies \< 1 year (per chart review by physician Co-I) or with any serious psychiatric or cognitive problem that would preclude ability to provide informed consent (i.e., unstable or untreated bipolar disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder, psychotic disorder, or actively suicidal)
• • participants who have recent unstable cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease (e.g., recovery phase of acute myocardial infarction, severe cardiac arrhythmias, and cerebrovascular accident; See Human Subjects) per discussion with their MOUD prescriber.