mHealth to Help Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Recovery for Opioid Use Disorder

March 16, 2026 updated by: Washington University School of Medicine
The opioid epidemic has resulted in widespread detrimental consequences among vulnerable populations in Missouri, especially among pregnant and postpartum women (PPW) with opioid use disorder (OUD). Perinatal use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) within a comprehensive treatment plan is the current standard of care, however PPW struggling with OUD may underestimate or misjudge its benefits. At the same time, emerging findings signal that mobile health (mHealth) technologies have the potential to support healthier behaviors among individuals with OUD. In this project, we will test the utility of a theoretically-based digital therapeutics tool (uMAT-R) to encourage MAT adherence and treatment retention while considering the unique needs of PPW. We will conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) among adult PPW with OUD. This RCT is designed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of uMAT-R mobile app versus a control group (who receive treatment-as-usual) regarding participants' treatment adherence, sobriety, and improved MAT attitudes, norms, and perceived control. Recruitment for all Aims will occur at a clinic in St. Louis, Missouri that provides perinatal medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and high-risk maternity care to PPW struggling with OUD. Clinically meaningful effect size and attrition estimates will aid in the planning of a larger RCT in which we will test uMAT-R on a larger scale and expand our recruitment to other clinics across Missouri and other states. In addition, local providers who work with pregnant and postpartum people with substance use disorder and/or at a recovery community center will be recruited to provide their feedback. This novel technology could be an invaluable tool to assist physicians in the treatment of OUD among PPW.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

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.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

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.
125

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • Washington University School of Medicine

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Pregnant and Postpartum Participants:

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Pregnant or up to 3 years postpartum
  2. Receiving treatment consenting treatment facility and/or referred from other participants or community partners
  3. Adult (≥18 years of age)
  4. U.S. resident
  5. OUD or history of opioid misuse
  6. Fluent in English
  7. Own a smartphone with an iOS or Android operating system

Exclusion Criteria:

1) Currently incarcerated

Providers Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Works with pregnant and postpartum people with opioid use disorder and/or at a recovery community center (e.g. a staff person, counselor, social worker, psychiatrist, nurse).
  2. Adult (≥18 years of age)
  3. Fluent in English
  4. Own a smartphone with an iOS or Android operating system

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Control Group- Access to uMAT-R but did not engage
Control Group Access to uMAT-R but did not engage
Experimental: Experimental Group- Mobile App with Coaching Feature
Access to a coached program on uMAT-R App
Device: uMAT-R mobile app with coaching component
uMAT-R recovery mobile app with coaching component

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
Cravings
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month
Craving was assessed using the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), adapted for opioid craving by replacing alcohol-specific wording with opioid-specific wording. The PACS is a 5-item self-report measure assessing craving over the past week. However, in the current version, we only included 3 items: "(1) How much do you currently crave illicit substances (i.e. opioids, meth, cocaine, MDMAs, etc.)", "(2) In the past week, please rate how strong your desire to use illicit substances has been when something in the environment has reminded you of the illicit substance(s)." and "(3) Please imagine yourself in the environment in which you previous used illicit substances. If you were in this environment today and if it were the time of day that you typically use, what is the likelihood that you would use illicit substances today?" Each item is scored 0 to 10 and summed to a total score ranging from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating greater craving/worse outcome.
Baseline, 1 month
MOUD Attitudes
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month
MOUD attitudes were assessed using an adapted 8-item scale originally developed to assess negative attitudes toward methadone (Schwartz et al., 2008) and modified to reference medications for opioid use disorder (e.g., buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone). Each item was rated on a 5-point scale from 1 to 5. A total score was calculated as the mean of the 8 items, with possible values ranging from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate more negative attitudes toward MOUD/worse outcome.
Baseline, 1 month

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.
Washington University School of Medicine

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

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 (Actual)

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.
July 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

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.
October 1, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

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.
October 1, 2024

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 20, 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 20, 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 22, 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.
April 3, 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.
March 16, 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.
March 1, 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.
  • 202102207
  • 5R34DA050453 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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