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Intravenous Drug AbusePhase 4PermitNCT00844272

Psychoeducation Reaches HCV-infected Methadone/Buprenorphine Substituted Patients in Standard Antiviral Treatment

A Phase 4 study testing Psychoeducation in people with Intravenous Drug Abuse and Chronic Hepatitis C, run by Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Study objective: Feasibility and efficacy of a standardised psychosocial intervention (psychoeducation) in substituted opioid dependent patients Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 70 years
Conditions the study is for
Intravenous Drug Abuse, Chronic Hepatitis C
What is being tested?
Psychoeducation
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
189 participants
Where
No sites listed yet
Study dates
May 2005to Nov 2009
Phase
Phase 4
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 70 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Women and men at the age of 18 to 70 years
  • Opiate dependence according to ICD-10
  • Stable substitution (i.e. either keeping the last 5 dates or fulfilling criteria for the Take Home assignment)
  • Proof of HCV by means of PCR
  • Patient must be therapy naive regarding the hepatitis C (no preceding treatment attempts with interferon and/or Ribavirin)
  • Ability to comprehend und follow the study protocol
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  • Compensated liver disease with the following haematological and biochemical minimum criteria:
  • Leukocytes ≥ 3.000/mm3
  • Neutrophile granulocytes ≥ 1.500/mm3
  • Thrombocytes ≥ 90.000/mm3
  • Direct and indirect bilirubin within the standard range (if not factors, which are not hepatitis-conditioned, as M. Meulengracht, represent an explanation for the increase of the indirect bilirubin; in these cases the indirect bilirubin must be less than 3.0 mg/dl or 51.3 µmol/l)
  • Albumin within the standard range
  • Creatinine within the standard range
  • TSH (Thyreotropine) within the standard range of the test laboratory
  • Normal blood sugar value for non-diabetics or haemoglobin A1c max. 8.5% for diabetics (induced by pharmacotherapy and/or diet controls). An eye examination is required in diabetics.
  • Haemoglobin values ≥ 12 mg/dl for women and/or ≥ 13 mg/dl for men
  • ANA ≤ 1:160
  • In patients with cirrhosis or transition to cirrhosis: exclusion of hepatocellular carcinoma
  • Readiness to abstain from alcohol during interferon treatment.
  • Negative pregnancy test in female patients within 24 hours before the first dose
  • Regular confirmation that sexual active women at the age capable of child-bearing and/or sexual active men use two reliable methods of contraception during interferon / ribavirin treatment and six months thereafter, one contraception method with barrier effect (e.g. condom, diaphragm)
  • Female patients may not breastfeed during interferon / ribavirin treatment.

Who cannot join

  • Decompensated liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh B or C)
  • Haemochromatosis
  • Lack of Alfa-1-Antitrypsin (homozygote - PIZZ)
  • Morbus-Wilson
  • positive proof of HBsAg, anti- HIV or anti- HAV IgM antibodies
  • Autoimmune diseases (e.g. autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis)
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  • Kidney failure (Creatinine > 1,5 mg/dl)
  • Liver- or kidney-transplantation
  • Hyperlipidemia (Cholesterol > 1,5-times above the upper standard value)
  • Clinically manifested gout
  • Severe heart insufficiency
  • Severe coronary heart disease
  • Patients with cardiac pacemaker
  • Severe chronic pulmonary diseases (e.g. COPD)
  • Serious psychological illness, in particular severe depression
  • Epilepsy
  • Oesophagus varicose in the prehistory
  • Patient with high anaemia risk (e.g. Thalassaemia)
  • Retinopathy
  • Severe other illness
  • Patients, who cannot follow the study conditions
  • Male partners of pregnant women
  • Current desire to have children / no safe contraception under therapy and until including 6 months after study end
  • Participation in a clinical study within the last 6 months

About this study

Study objective: Feasibility and efficacy of a standardised psychosocial intervention (psychoeducation) in substituted opioid dependent patients

Read the detailed description

Primary objective:

  • Retention in antiviral treatment (feasibility)

Secondary objectives:

  • Mental Health Mental health is monitored by means of the Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R). Its sum score, the Global Severity Index (GSI), serves as indicator. Mental health will be regarded as stable in case of a change of less than 6 GSI-points, otherwise mental health will be regarded as improved (GSI - 6 points) or decreased (GSI + 6 points).
  • Course of Addiction Course of addiction under antiviral treatment will be monitored according to retention in substitution treatment, compliance with scheduled visits, and co-consumption of illicit drugs (patients record, urinalysis).
  • Sustained viral response (SVR) SVR as measured by polymerase chain reaction 6 months after per protocol antiviral treatment (ITT-analysis).
Being tested
Psychoeducation
Keywords
Opiate Dependence, Chronic Hepatitis C
Medical subject headings
Substance Abuse, Intravenous, Hepatitis C, Chronic, Opioid-Related Disorders

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • PsychoeducationBehavioural

    Group-therapeutic intervention with 12 sessions plus 5 update sessions with 24-week therapy duration and/or 12 sessions plus 10 update sessions with 48-week therapy duration Module I: Create understanding, resources, problems and solutions Module II: Information on hepatitis C infection Module III: Information on treatment Module IV: Specific information on depression and withdrawal symptoms under interferon The meetings take a minimum of 60 min. time, should be once weekly. The group size should lie between 6 and 12 participants.

    The group leaders are trained in performance of the psycho-education.

Study groups in NCT00844272
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
PsychoeducationExperimentalPE group sessions lasted 60 minutes and were carried out under continuous supervision. The manualised program was especially tailored to (former) IDUs in HCV treatment, containing the following aspects: * Module 1: HCV infection and symptoms, course of illness, interaction with opioid dependence, further problems and risk factors * Module 2: HCV treatment, side effects, psychiatric and somatic comorbidities, reinfection and drug use, risk behaviour * Module 3: Coping strategies, resources and self-help, effective use of health-care support, the role of social environment, healthy living \& nutrition
Receives: Behavioral: Psychoeducation
Treatment as usualNo interventionControl group did not received no intervention.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Retention in antiviral treatment (feasibility)

    Measured: within the first 24/48 weeks

Secondary outcomes (3)
  1. Psychological health

    Measured: within the first 24/48 weeks

  2. Medical process on the basis of retention in substitution treatment

    Measured: within the first 24/48 weeks

  3. Permanent virus suppression

    Measured: within the first 24/48 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted16 Feb 2009 (estimated)
  2. Study startMay 2005
  3. Primary completionNov 2008
  4. Study completionNov 2009

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
189 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00844272
Sponsor's protocol ID
CIAR-PERMIT
Acronym
Permit
Status last verified
May 2015
First submitted
12 Feb 2009
Last updated
28 May 2015
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes

Publications

  • Reimer J, Schmidt CS, Schulte B, Gansefort D, Golz J, Gerken G, Scherbaum N, Verthein U, Backmund M. Psychoeducation improves hepatitis C virus treatment during opioid substitution therapy: a controlled, prospective multicenter trial. Clin Infect Dis. 2013 Aug;57 Suppl 2:S97-104. doi: 10.1093/cid/cit307.

    PubMed 23884073

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 4 study testing Psychoeducation in people with Intravenous Drug Abuse and Chronic Hepatitis C, run by Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 22 inclusion and 24 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 28 May 2015. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 4 studies take place after a treatment is approved, to learn more about its long-term benefits and risks in everyday use.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Retention in antiviral treatment (feasibility) (time frame: within the first 24/48 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00844272, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 28 May 2015.

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