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Enhanced Telephone MonitoringNCT02269787

TeleMonitoring to Improve Substance Use Disorder Treatment After Detoxification

A study testing Enhanced Telephone Monitoring in people with Enhanced Telephone Monitoring and Usual Care, run by VA Office of Research and Development at 1 site in United States.

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

This research program is intended to improve the treatment engagement and outcomes of Veterans who receive inpatient detoxification, and decrease their use of VA inpatient and emergency department services. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Enhanced Telephone Monitoring, Usual Care
What is being tested?
Enhanced Telephone Monitoring
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
298 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
1 Oct 2014to 30 Mar 2018
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

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 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Beginning an episode of inpatient detoxification at the Boston or Palo Alto Veterans Affairs medical facilities, and
  • have ongoing access to cell phone or land line telephone

Who cannot join

  • Significant cognitive impairment

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA

    Palo Alto, California, 94304-1290

Other trials in United States

About this study

This research program is intended to improve the treatment engagement and outcomes of Veterans who receive inpatient detoxification, and decrease their use of VA inpatient and emergency department services. It is intended to increase the use of substance use disorder care and 12-step mutual-help groups to benefit recovery, reduce rehospitalizations, and reduce costs for VA.

Read the detailed description

Annually, about 25,000 Veterans receive inpatient detoxification (detox) for substance use disorders (SUDs). Detox is not SUD treatment; it is the medical management of withdrawal to prevent complications, which may be fatal. Detox inpatients who enter SUD treatment and peer-based mutual-help groups (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous) have much better outcomes (less substance use, HIV/HCV risk behaviors, homelessness, rehospitalizations, Emergency Department visits) than those who do not. However, because of their unique characteristics (severe and chronic addictions, co-morbidities, lack of resources, self- and provider-perceptions as unsuitable for treatment), most Veterans discharged from inpatient detox do not enter SUD treatment. For many Veterans, a pattern of repeated inpatient detox, with each episode incurring a higher risk of overdose, occurs. Therefore, in its Uniform Services Handbook, Mental Health Operations places major emphasis on increasing the rate of SUD treatment initiation and engagement following detox to benefit Veterans' outcomes and prevent more use of costly health care.

The primary objective of this project is to implement and evaluate Enhanced Telephone Monitoring (ETM) as a new and innovative telehealth intervention to facilitate the transition from inpatient detox to SUD specialty treatment (residential, outpatient, pharmacotherapy), thereby improving Veterans' outcomes and decreasing VA health care costs. In a randomized trial at two sites (VA Palo Alto and Boston), investigators hypothesize that patients receiving ETM, compared to patients in usual care (UC), will be more likely to enter and engage in SUD treatment and mutual-help, have better SUD and related outcomes, and have fewer and delayed acute care episodes. This project will also conduct a formative evaluation of how to implement ETM VA-wide, focusing on diverse subgroups of Veterans. Further, it will conduct a Budget Impact Analysis (BIA) to determine the impact of ETM on total costs of VA care. Investigators hypothesize that the higher costs associated with ETM (because patients will engage in SUD treatment) will be more than offset by its lower costs of acute care.

Patients in the ETM condition will receive an in-person session while in detox, followed by coaching over the telephone for 3 months after discharge. The intervention will incorporate Motivational Interviewing, and Contracting, Prompting, and Reinforcing, to provide support while waiting for treatment, and facilitate entry into treatment and mutual-help, and improved responses to crises. Patients will be assessed at baseline and 3 and 6 months post-discharge for outcomes and non-VA health care; VA health care will be assessed with VA databases. GLMM analyses will be conducted to compare the UC and ETM groups on course of outcomes over time. The formative evaluation to inform the implementation of ETM will use the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) framework. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with inpatient detox staff and patients to yield facilitators of ETM implementation and modifiable barriers with associated action plans. For the BIA, costs of ETM will be measured through microcosting methods. For patients in both the ETM and UC groups, all inpatient, residential, outpatient, and pharmacy care will be measured from VA utilization and cost files.

In summary, Mental Health Operations is committed to eradicating the dangerous, costly pattern of Veterans obtaining inpatient detox services but not receiving the SUD treatment they need. Telehealth interventions, a promising way to improve treatment access and outcomes by SUD patients, have not been utilized with the challenging population of detox inpatients before. In accordance with others in this CREATE, this project will help to accomplish Mental Health Operations' goal of implementing the Uniform Handbook by increasing Veterans' access to, engagement in, and benefit from, SUD treatment services, particularly among Veterans who are using VA medical services and need SUD services but are not receiving them.

Being tested
Enhanced Telephone Monitoring

What participants receive

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

  • Enhanced Telephone MonitoringBehavioural

    Also called ETM

    Detox inpatients in the ETM condition will be expected to complete one session while in detox and one 15-minute telephone call per week for 12 weeks (plus usual care).

Study groups in NCT02269787
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Enhanced Telephone MonitoringExperimentalDetox inpatients in the ETM condition will be expected to complete one 15-minute telephone call per week for 12 weeks.
Receives: Behavioral: Enhanced Telephone Monitoring
Usual CareNo interventionPatients in the usual care condition will receive the care they would receive in the absence of a research project.

What is being measured

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

  1. Percent of Participants Who Had an Additional Inpatient Detoxification

    Percent that had (yes) an additional inpatient detoxification 6 months following baseline assessment- additional inpatient detoxification was dichotomous, yes or no.

    Measured: 6-month follow-up

Timeline

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

  1. First posted21 Oct 2014 (estimated)
  2. Study start1 Oct 2014
  3. Primary completion30 Jun 2017
  4. Study completion30 Mar 2018

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 N/A
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
298 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02269787
Sponsor's protocol ID
CRE 12-010
Status last verified
Feb 2019
First submitted
3 Oct 2014
Last updated
10 May 2019
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Undecided

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Enhanced Telephone Monitoring in people with Enhanced Telephone Monitoring and Usual Care, run by VA Office of Research and Development at 1 site in United States.

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 2 inclusion and 1 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 10 May 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

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.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 10 May 2019). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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?

Percent of Participants Who Had an Additional Inpatient Detoxification (time frame: 6-month follow-up). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
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 10 May 2019.

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