Personalized Feedback Intervention for Alcohol and Opioid Use Among Adults With Chronic Pain

Personalized Feedback Intervention to Address Hazardous Drinking and Alcohol-Opioid Interactions Among Adults With Chronic Pain.

Over one-quarter of American adults engage in hazardous drinking (i.e., a pattern of alcohol consumption that increases risk for harmful consequences), which is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Rates of hazardous drinking are significantly higher among individuals with (vs. without) chronic pain. Moreover, 20% of individuals prescribed opioids endorse concurrent alcohol and opioid use, which may interfere with chronic pain treatment and lead to dangerous/potentially fatal health effects. No interventions to date have targeted either hazardous drinking or concurrent use of alcohol and opioids in the context of chronic pain. The current four-year R01 builds upon our past work by developing a brief, single-session, computer-based, personalized feedback intervention (PFI) designed to enhance knowledge regarding adverse pain-alcohol-opioid interrelations, increase motivation and intention to reduce hazardous drinking, and reduce positive attitudes and intention regarding concurrent use of alcohol and prescription opioid medications. Specifically, we will develop an integrated PFI for hazardous drinkers with chronic pain who are prescribed opioids (PA-PFI). Our approach will follow a staged model consistent with NIH guidelines for developing and standardizing behavioral interventions. Phase IA activities will involve collecting qualitative and quantitative feedback from three iterative focus groups (N = 21) to refine intervention content and evaluate treatment acceptability and feasibility. Phase IB activities will include a proof-of-concept and highly rigorous randomized clinical trial designed to compare PA-PFI to control PFI (C-PFI) among a sample of 174 hazardous drinkers with chronic pain who are currently prescribed opioid medications. This study represents an important and pivotal step in the larger landscape of translating basic research to more efficacious strategies for reducing hazardous drinking among underserved populations with medical comorbidities. This intervention would be highly disseminable and relevant to millions of hazardous drinkers with chronic pain. Given the collective public health impact of chronic pain, hazardous drinking, and concurrent alcohol-prescription opioid use, we believe the current study will yield findings that enhance scientific knowledge, enhance our understanding of mechanisms in reciprocal pain-alcohol-opioid relations, and inform the development of novel treatments for hazardous drinkers with chronic pain that are adaptable and easily implemented across a variety of healthcare settings.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Alcohol Drinking; Pain; Opioid Use; Feedback, Psychological
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Pain-Alcohol Personalized Feeback Intervention; Behavioral: Control Personalized Feedback Intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 195
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Joseph W. Ditre, PhD; Phone Number: 315-443-1052; Email: jwditre@syr.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Syracuse, New York, United States, 13210
      • Recruiting
      • Syracuse University
      • Contact: Joseph W. Ditre; Email: jwditre@syr.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Joseph W Ditre, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• ≥ 21 years of age
• Current hazardous drinker
• Current chronic pain
• Current use of prescription opioid medications.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current alcohol or other substance use treatment
• Not being fluent in English
• Current psychiatric distress or thought disorder.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Pain-Alcohol Personalized Feedback Intervention	Behavioral: Pain-Alcohol Personalized Feeback Intervention; The intervention will be designed to enhance knowledge regarding adverse pain-alcohol-opioid interrelations as well as increase motivation and intention to reduce hazardous drinking and positive attitudes and intentions regarding concurrent use of alcohol and prescription opioid medications.
Active Comparator: Control Personalized Feedback Intervention	Behavioral: Control Personalized Feedback Intervention; The control intervention will incorporate personalized feedback relevant to exercise and nutrition but not address drinking reduction or pain-alcohol-opioid interrelations.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in knowledge of adverse pain-alcohol-opioid interrelations	Assessed via greater number of correct responses on the 10-item Pain Alcohol Opioid Knowledge Questionnaire (PAOKQ).	Baseline and immediately after receiving the intervention
Change in motivation/readiness to reduce drinking	Assessed via Alcohol Ladder: a visual analogue contemplation ladder providing a single continuous metric of motivation and readiness to reduce drinking, where higher responses (range: 1-10) indicating greater motivation/readiness to change/reduce drinking.	Baseline and immediately after receiving the intervention
Change in attitudes and intentions to co-use alcohol and opioids	Assessed via Alcohol-Opioid Co-Use Attitudes/Intentions (AOAI) measure, where greater scores (range: 16-62) indicate more positive attitudes and greater intentions to co-use alcohol and opioids.	Baseline and immediately after receiving the intervention
Change in expectancies for pain-coping/reduction via drinking	Assessed via Expectancies for Alcohol Analgesia (EAA) measure, where greater EAA scores (range: 0-45) indicate greater expectancies for alcohol analgesia.	Baseline and immediately after receiving the intervention
Change in hazardous drinking	Assessed via scores on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), where scores greater than or equal to 8 for males and 7 for females indicate the presence of hazardous drinking.	Baseline and 3 month follow-up
Change in frequency of alcohol-opioid co-use	Assessed via self-reported number of days in which alcohol and prescription opioids were concurrently used in the past two weeks.	Baseline and 3 month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Syracuse University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 30, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 16, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): October 19, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 21, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 20, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Pain; Alcohol; Opioids
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Drinking Behavior; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Alcohol Drinking; Chronic Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: R01AA028639 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No