SMART-r: Substance Monitoring and Active Relapse Tracking Repository

November 3, 2026 updated by: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Background:

About 1.5 million adults in the US enter alcohol or substance use treatment programs each year. Unfortunately, more than half of patients do not finish their program. For those who start treatment, about 70% return to substance use within weeks or months after starting treatment. To discover why patients drop out of treatment and return to substance use - and what can be done about it - researchers need to learn more about people who use drugs and alcohol.

Objective:

To create a data repository by gathering survey and smartphone data from adults who use drugs and alcohol in order to conduct future research.

Eligibility:

Adults who have used drugs or alcohol in the past and have a Android smartphone. The researchers will recruit targeted demographics at different times throughout the duration of the study period.

Design:

Data will be collected for up to 6 months. All research activities will be online.

Participants will download a smartphone app called TTRU-Curtis AWARE and keep it active on their phone. The app will run in the background and collect participant data, including: screen unlocks, duration of time the screen is on; apps used; words typed (except passwords); duration and time of phone calls; estimated location (exact location is not collected); and movement, such as how many steps are taken in a day. All personally identifying information is automatically removed before the data is stored (including phone numbers, names, or locations described in messages).

Each day, participants will receive a text with a link to a survey. They will answer questions about their mood, behavior, and substance use from the day before. This survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.

Every 30 days, participants will complete a longer survey. They will answer questions about their personal relationships, risky behaviors, mood, substance use, and feelings. They can skip any questions they do not feel comfortable answering. These surveys should take about 30 minutes to complete.

Participants may opt to allow researchers to access their social media posts.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

Description:

This project aims to establish a comprehensive data repository for conducting secondary research, including the analysis of digital phenotype data from individuals who have historically used drugs, including alcohol. Our hypothesis is that digital phenotyping can reveal unique behavioral patterns and risk factors associated with substance use. By collecting data such as smartphone app usage, social media interactions, language data, phone sensor measurements, historical conversational AI data, and wearable device metrics, the TTRU research lab will be able to conduct secondary analyses and uncover insights that could inform prevention and intervention strategies with individuals who use substances.

Objectives

Primary Objective:

The primary objective is to establish the NIDA-IRP Technology and Translational Research Unit (TTRU) Substance Monitoring and Active Relapse Tracking Repository (SMART-r) for collection, storage, and analysis of the human data from individuals who use substances. The secure, high-quality resource of digital, sensor, social media, conversational AI data, self-report, and clinical data (Repository Materials) will be created. Core variables of interest include sensor data, language, and relevant self-report measures. The intention to collect digital phenotyping data is to aid in the efficiency and efficacy of secondary research investigating health outcomes for individuals who use substances by creating a repository of de-identified data.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
10000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21224
        • Recruiting
        • National Institute on Drug Abuse
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 120 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults who have used drugs or alcohol in the past and have a Android smartphone. The researchers will recruit targeted demographics at different times throughout the duration of the study period.

Description

  • INCLUSION CRITERIA:

In order to be eligible to participate in the repository, an individual must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Must understand and be willing to complete an online informed consent process.

  • Be an adult aged 18 or older.

  • Self-report alcohol or other drug use within the past 30 days.

  • Have a smartphone as their primary mobile phone.

    --For the AWARE app data monitoring procedure, there may be times during this study period where, due to technical or OS limitations, the app is only available to users of certain devices (e.g., Android, iOS). If there is such a limitation, this information will be evaluated during screening. For example, if the AWARE app is not available for iOS, then the screening form may exclude iPhone users for that time period where the limitation exists, if the only procedures offered are daily diary surveys and AWARE data monitoring.

  • Be willing to adhere to the procedures, such as downloading the AWARE app onto their smartphone and keeping it active throughout the data collection period, completing baseline questionnaires, daily diary EMAs, open-ended survey questions with the TTR Chatbot, uploading historical conversational AI data, and/or follow-up surveys.

  • Understand and write in English.

    --This exclusion criterion is included because future research on the data collected will include linguistic analysis. all linguistic analyses, we remove rare words (e.g., words must be said by at least 95% of participants)95. Additionally, there are cultural differences across languages and, thus, interpreting language results across more than one language becomes difficult.96 As a result, we must keep analysis limited to a single language (English), since words in other languages will not meet that criteria.

  • Live in the United States.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this repository:

1. Any impairment severe enough to preclude informed consent or valid self-report.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: OTHER
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Adults who use substances

Adults 18 years or older who use drugs or alcohol

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
SMARTr data repository
Time Frame: 20 years

The primary objective is to establish the NIDA-IRP Technology and Translational Research Unit (TTRU) Substance Monitoring and Active Relapse Tracking Repository (SMART-r) for collection, storage, and analysis of the human data from individuals who use substances.
20 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Brenda L Curtis, Ph.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 9, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2044

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2044

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 5, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 5, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 6, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 24, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 10002094
  • 002094-DA

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Only aggregated data will be made available upon request.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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