Improving Reproductive Health for Women in Opioid Medication-Assisted Treatment (OMAT)

Recent research suggests that women with substance use disorders may be at a higher risk of unintended pregnancy. There is a paucity of interventions specifically focused on this population. Through using mixed methods, this study proposes to develop a brief peer-led intervention (based on the Health Belief Model) to prevent unintended pregnancies among women entering opioid medication-assisted treatment; to assess acceptability, feasibility and the initial efficacy of the behavioral intervention; and to conduct exploratory analyses to identify the Health Belief Model constructs that are most influential on use of long-acting reversible contraception methods. Future research would include testing the intervention in a larger scale trial and with other populations.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Contraception
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: SHINE intervention group

Detailed Description

This study aims to develop a reproductive health intervention to prevent unintended pregnancy for women of child-bearing age in opioid medication-assisted treatment (OMAT). It will be conducted in two phases. The first formative phase will employ individual interviews and focus groups with women between the ages of 18 and 44 and in opioid medication-assisted treatment to better understand: pregnancy desires/motivation and perceived susceptibility and severity, contraceptive knowledge, perceived benefits/barriers, self-efficacy, social norms, behaviors, and access to contraception and family planning services, especially related to long-acting reversible contraception. This information, coupled with prior evidence and theory, will be used to develop a brief peer-led behavioral intervention.

In the second phase, we will conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the acceptability, feasibility and the initial efficacy of the developed intervention. Women will be recruited from two opioid medication-assisted treatment facilities and once they have consented and the baseline survey is completed they will be randomized to either the behavioral intervention or usual care. Participants will complete a baseline, three and six-month post-baseline follow up survey.

For those randomized to the intervention arm, the first session will occur immediately post-consent and baseline, and the second will occur 2-4 weeks post-baseline. A trained peer-educator will deliver the behavioral intervention that will provide accurate, unbiased information about Long Acting Reversible Contraception (intrauterine devices and subdermal implants) and all other contraceptive methods (including effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages), help women assess their needs (pregnancy desires compared to behavior), and utilize motivational interviewing to empower them to make an informed decision regarding their sexual health. For those that are interested, the peer-educator will connect women to a Denver Health Community Health Clinic or a clinic of their choosing to further explore appropriate birth control methods. The medical clinic will assess the woman and determine and dispense the most appropriate method.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 119
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80204
      • Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 44 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Biologically female
• 18-44 years of age
• receiving medications for opioid use disorder at one of two clinic sites
• not currently pregnant or trying to become pregnant and having no known medical reason that could prevent pregnancy
• having sex or intending to have sex with a biological male
• not currently using a LARC method.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Being too intoxicated at the time of the interview or impaired mentally due to physical or psychological problems to the point that they cannot voluntarily consent to participate in the study and/or respond to the interview
• Have a known reason why they will not be available for the intervention or the follow-up interview.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Opioid Medication-Assisted Treatment only; Usual care - Opioid Medication Assisted Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; Peer led, behavioral sexual health intervention: Sexual Health Initiative for Navigation and Empowerment (SHINE).	Behavioral: SHINE intervention group; Includes all substance treatment services as well as the brief peer-led behavioral intervention focused on contraceptives, reproductive needs, and motivational interviewing: Sexual Health Initiative for Navigation and Empowerment (SHINE).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Family Planning Visit and Long-acting Reversible Contraception Use at Three and Six Month Follow-up by Condition.	Assess initial efficacy (family planning/clinical visits and uptake of birth control, specifically long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) of the SHINE intervention, using baseline/follow up surveys and review of medical records at three and six months. Specifically, the number of participants that were using LARCs and the number of participants who had attended family visits at each time point.	3 and 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sexual Health Knowledge at Baseline by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on overall sexual and reproductive health knowledge at baseline (based on participants who completed the baseline survey). Reported as percentage of questions answered correctly by participants.	Baseline
Sexual Health Knowledge at 3 Month Follow-up by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on overall sexual and reproductive health knowledge at 3 month follow-up (based on participants who completed the 3 month follow-up survey). Reported as percentage of questions answered correctly by participants.	3 months
Sexual Health Knowledge at 6 Month Follow-up by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on overall sexual and reproductive health knowledge at 6 month follow-up (based on participants who completed the 6 month follow-up survey). Reported as percentage of questions answered correctly by participants.	6 months
Health Belief Model Constructs (Perceived Threat of Pregnancy) at Baseline by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on perceived threat of pregnancy at baseline (based on participants who completed the baseline survey). Reported as number of participants who indicated agreement with the statement, "If I do not use birth control and have unprotected sex, I could get pregnant."	Baseline
Health Belief Model Constructs (Perceived Threat of Pregnancy) at 3 Month Follow-up by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on perceived threat of pregnancy at 3 month follow-up (based on participants who completed the 3 month follow-up survey). Reported as number of participants who indicated agreement with the statement, "If I do not use birth control and have unprotected sex, I could get pregnant."	3 months
Health Belief Model Constructs (Perceived Threat of Pregnancy) at 6 Month Follow-up by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on perceived threat of pregnancy at 6 month follow-up (based on participants who completed the 6 month follow-up survey). Reported as the number of participants who indicated agreement with the statement, "If I do not use birth control and have unprotected sex, I could get pregnant."	6 months
Health Belief Model Constructs (Contraceptive Cost-benefit) at Baseline by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on contraceptive cost-benefit at baseline (based on participants who completed the baseline survey). Perceived contraceptive costs and benefits were assessed with 14 items on a five-point scale describing how strongly participants agreed to each statement. The response scale was coded so that a higher score reflected higher benefits and lower costs and was the desired direction over time. Reported as mean overall score (range 0-56).	baseline
Health Belief Model Constructs (Contraceptive Cost-benefit) at 3 Month Follow-up by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on contraceptive cost-benefit at 3 month follow-up (based on participants who completed the 3 month follow-up survey). Perceived contraceptive costs and benefits were assessed with 14 items on a five-point scale describing how strongly participants agreed to each statement. The response scale was coded so that a higher score reflected higher benefits and lower costs and was the desired direction over time. Reported as mean overall score (range 0-56).	3 months
Health Belief Model Constructs (Contraceptive Cost-benefit) at 6 Month Follow-up by Intervention Condition.	Assess the impact of the SHINE intervention on contraceptive cost-benefit at 6 month follow-up (based on participants who completed the 6 month follow-up survey). Perceived contraceptive costs and benefits were assessed with 14 items on a five-point scale describing how strongly participants agreed to each statement. The response scale was coded so that a higher score reflected higher benefits and lower costs and was the desired direction over time. Reported as mean overall score (range 0-56).	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Denver Health and Hospital Authority
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Deborah Rinehart, PhD, Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Stowell MA, Thomas-Gale T, Jones HE, Binswanger I, Rinehart DJ. Perspectives among women receiving medications for opioid use disorder: Implications for development of a peer navigation intervention to improve access to family planning services. Subst Abus. 2022;43(1):722-732. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2021.2007514.
• Rinehart DJ, Stowell M, Collings A, Durfee MJ, Thomas-Gale T, Jones HE, Binswanger I. Increasing access to family planning services among women receiving medications for opioid use disorder: A pilot randomized trial examining a peer-led navigation intervention. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2021 Jul;126:108318. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108318. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 31, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 3, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): June 9, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 16, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 22, 2020
• Last Verified: October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Unplanned Pregnancy, long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), medications for opioid use disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 15-1236; 1R34DA039381-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO