- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT06281821
Mobile App-based Approach for Reducing Pain and Hazardous Drinking: a Pilot Study
February 26, 2024 updated by: Boston University Charles River Campus
Alcohol Use and Chronic Pain in Primary Care
Chronic pain and heavy drinking are common co-occurring conditions among patients presenting to primary care settings.
Given their impact on functioning and medical outcomes, there would be considerable benefit to developing an accessible, easily utilized, integrative approach to reduce alcohol use and pain that can be readily incorporated into the health care settings.
The objective of this study is to test a modified version of a smartphone-based intervention for reducing pain and alcohol use among individuals experiencing chronic pain who engage in heavy drinking.
The primary goal is to test the feasibility and acceptability of implementing this intervention in a sample that includes participants from rural areas and providing initial data on the utility of the intervention.
Study Overview
Status
Recruiting
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Heavy alcohol use represents a significant risk for morbidity and mortality.
Unfortunately, addressing unhealthy patterns of alcohol use is often a challenge as patients typically present to health care settings with co-morbid conditions that: (1) may make unhealthy drinking a lower priority health issue and (2) may impact the capacity for sustained alcohol-related change.
Chronic pain is among the most common of these conditions.
Pain is a frequent source of distress and disability and is one of the most frequent causes for health care visits.
Pain is also an important trigger for alcohol use among patients who drink and is associated with the experience of negative alcohol-related consequences and unhealthy drinking over time.
The experience of pain has also been shown to be associated with poorer responses to alcohol interventions.
There are a number of challenges when attempting to treat co-occurring unhealthy drinking and pain among their patients.
Pain management and reduction of alcohol use among those who engage in heavy alcohol use is often not adequately achieved with pharmacological treatments nor are pharmacological treatments indicated for common pain conditions.
Moreover, despite the availability of evidence-based psychosocial interventions for unhealthy drinking and chronic pain, patients with each of these conditions typically show poor adherence to treatment.
Given the rates of pain and unhealthy alcohol use and their impact on functioning and medical outcomes, there would be considerable benefit to an accessible, easily utilized, integrative approach to treat heavy alcohol use and pain that can be readily incorporated into health care settings.
The objectives of this study are to test the acceptability and feasibility of a smartphone-based intervention for reducing pain and alcohol use among individuals who experience chronic pain and heavy drinking.
In addition, the study will provide a preliminary effect size estimates of the intervention on outcomes.
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Estimated)
32
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Study Contact
- Name: Tibor P Palfai, PhD
- Phone Number: 617-353-9345
- Email: palfai@bu.edu
Study Contact Backup
- Name: Maya Kratzer, BA
- Phone Number: 857-225-8843
- Email: mkratzer@bu.edu
Study Locations
-
-
Massachusetts
-
Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
- Recruiting
- Boston University
-
Contact:
- Maya Kratzer, BA
- Phone Number: 857-225-8843
-
-
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
Ages Eligible for Study
- Adult
- Older Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No
Description
Inclusion Criteria
- 1 Heavy drinking by NIAAA guidelines (weekly limits [> 7 standard drinks for women or men age 65+, > 14 for men younger than 65], and/or a heavy drinking episode in the past month [>3 for women or men age 65+, > 4 for men younger than 65]) or by a positive USAUDIT-C score
- 2 Chronic pain [at least 3 months in duration] of at least moderate severity (4 or greater on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale from 0-10)
Exclusion Criteria:
- 1 If on medication for pain or alcohol, not on same dose for at least 2 months [Note: Participants who are on psychoactive medications for pain management may be included if they have a stable (at least 2 months) medication dose and state a willingness to continue use of medication as prescribed by their physician through the intervention phase]
- 2 Patients with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, other psychotic disorder, or current suicidal intent.
- 3 Prior history of withdrawal-related seizures or delirium tremens
- 4 Current non-pharmacological treatment for alcohol use disorder or chronic pain.
- 5 Any acute life-threatening illness that requires treatment or intend to have surgery for a pain-related condition in the next 6-months
- 6 Pain that is related to a current cancer diagnosis
- 7 Patients who are unable to provide one or more individuals who will likely know where they are at follow up
- 8 Individuals who do not have a smartphone with which they can use to complete the remote study procedures.
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: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Single
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Mobile App Intervention
Mobile health intervention delivered through an app
|
Participants meet with an interventionist who explains the rationale for the mobile app.
They complete video and survey-based intervention content each week for 8 weeks.
App-based sessions are supplemented with brief chat-based coaching weekly.
|
No Intervention: Control
Assessment Only Control condition
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Pain (average weekly), Enjoyment of Life, General Activity (PEG) Scale
Time Frame: 7-days
|
Three items with 0-10 scales to assess chronic pain based on the dimensions of pain severity, impact on enjoyment in life, and interference with activity.
Range 0-30.
Higher scores reflect worse outcomes
|
7-days
|
Time Line Follow-Back-30 Day Weekly Drinking
Time Frame: past 30 days
|
Average number of drinks per week over the past 30 days.
Higher scores reflect worse outcomes.
|
past 30 days
|
Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Time Line Follow-Back 30-Day Heavy Episodic Drinking
Time Frame: past 30 days
|
number of heavy drinking episodes (for men 5 or more on single occasion for women 4+) over tha past 30 days.
Higher values reflect worse outcomes
|
past 30 days
|
Perceptions of Treatment Questionnaire
Time Frame: Current perception of intervention assessed 12 weeks following baseline (4 weeks following intervention completion)
|
Ratings of intervention satisfaction using Likert-scale items 0 "not at all" to 8 "very much" to assess degree of perceived help with pain and alcohol use, perceived helpfulness of intervention components.
Higher scores reflect better outcomes
|
Current perception of intervention assessed 12 weeks following baseline (4 weeks following intervention completion)
|
Systems Usability Scale
Time Frame: Current perception of intervention assessed 12 weeks following baseline (4 weeks following intervention completion)
|
Three item Likert scale (scored 1 "strongly disagree' to 5 "strongly agree') to assess ease, speed of learning, confidence using the mobile app.
Higher scores reflect better outcomes
|
Current perception of intervention assessed 12 weeks following baseline (4 weeks following intervention completion)
|
Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
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)
February 6, 2024
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2024
Study Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2024
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
February 20, 2024
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
February 26, 2024
First Posted (Actual)
February 28, 2024
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
February 28, 2024
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
February 26, 2024
Last Verified
February 1, 2024
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- 4947 [Study 2]
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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