Real World Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Implementation of a Digital Health Therapeutic for OUD

June 4, 2026 updated by: Elise Marino, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Real World Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Implementation of a Digital Health Therapeutic for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

The researchers will study the KIOS app, a digital health tool made to help people recovering from opioid addiction take better care of themselves. They want to see how the app works in real life and learn who benefits most from using it. The study will also ask participants what they think about the app and how easy it is to use.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Participation in the study will last 12 months. Participants will be asked to complete assessments at 33 timepoints over the 12-month trial. This will include 1 screening assessment, 24 weekly assessments, 6 monthly assessments, and 2 follow-up assessments. All study assessments will be completed remotely.

Staff at each site will identify potential participants being treated with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder at their respective site. Providers will introduce the study and if interested, the participant will complete a screening assessment conducted by trained study staff to determine eligibility for the study.

Participants who are eligible will be enrolled into the study and given access to the KIOS app.

The active phase will include the first 6 months during which time participants will use the app, complete monthly assessments, and complete a weekly craving assessment. The second 6 months in the study will include two follow-up assessments at 9 months and 12 months post study start. At the end of the 12 months, app access will be removed. The follow up assessments will include the monthly assessments that were completed during the active phase, as well as the craving assessment. All assessments will be sent to the participants' email address for them to complete on any device with internet access. At the conclusion of 12 months of study participation, focus groups will be conducted with 25 of the participants to gather information about their perspectives on the app and its usability and features.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

134

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

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • San Antonio, Texas, United States, 78229
        • University of Texas Health Science Center - Department of Psychiatry

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. Male or female outpatients 18 years of age or older
  2. DSM-5 criteria for opioid use disorder
  3. Ability to access KIOS via smartphone or tablet
  4. Initiated buprenorphine treatment in the past 6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Unwilling or unable to comply with study requirements
  2. A psychiatric or medical condition interfering with ability to use the app
  3. Incarceration
  4. Suicide risk as determined by the treating medical clinician at the site

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment as usual and KIOS app
Participants will be set up onto their preferred device(s) with assistance from a research assistant. KIOS will be accessible on all mobile devices as well as tablets. Treatment as usual (TAU) will be administered to all participants.
Device: KIOS App
A digital health therapeutic intended to help individuals in recovery from opioid use disorder better self-manage their condition. KIOS offers individualized, evidence-based behavioral intervention strategies responsive to the patients' current clinical status outside the setting of the doctor's office or treatment facility.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Retention in treatment
Time Frame: Baseline to 1 year
The number of days from the start of the one-year intervention until the participant either leaves the trial or completes the trial.
Baseline to 1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Diagnostic Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM-5)
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 months
DSM-5 criteria describe OUD as a pattern of opioid use leading to problems or distress
Baseline to 12 months
Opioid Craving Scale
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 months
A brief 3-item measure used to measure opioid craving. The scale consists of 3 items rated on a visual analog scale from 0-10. Items are as follows: 1) How much do you currently crave opiates?; 2) In the past week, please rate how strong your desire to use opiates has been when something in the environment has reminded you of opiates?; and 3) Please imagine yourself in the environment in which you previously used opiates. If you were in this environment today and if it were the time of day that you typically used opiates, what is the likelihood that you would use opiates today. The total scores range from 3-30 with a higher score indicating more opioid craving.
Baseline to 12 months
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 months
A self-administered 9-item depression module that scores each of the 9 DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition). Items are score 0 to 3, providing a 0 to 27 severity score. Scores of 5, 10, 15, and 20 represent cutoff points for mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression, respectively.
Baseline to 12 months
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 months
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)13 measures anxiety with 7 items scored from 0 to 3, providing a 0 to 21 severity score. Scores of 5, 10, and 15 represent cutoff points for mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, espectively.
Baseline to 12 months
Treatment Progress and Recovery (TEA)
Time Frame: 6 to 12 months
The TEA gauges progress in treatment and recovery within four domains established by prior research: substance use, health (physical or emotional), lifestyle (housing/living situation, family, employment, relationships), and community (obeying laws, responsible member of society). For each area, the patient is asked to think about how much better things have become on a 10-point scale (1 = not better at all and 10 = very much better). Scores range between 0-40, with a higher score indicating greater progress in treatment and recovery
6 to 12 months
System Usability Scale (SUS)
Time Frame: 6 months
The System Usability Scale (SUS)15 is a 10-item measure for assessing a system's usability on a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Scores are converted to a 100-point scale. A score above a 68 would be considered above average usability.
6 months
KIOS User Satisfaction Survey
Time Frame: 6 months
Participants complete a survey specific to KIOS regarding: (1) the content, appropriateness, and relevance of the advice; (2) enhancement of self-management skills; (3) selfawareness; and (4) overall satisfaction with health. Survey items will be answered with level of agreement with a given statement recorded on a Likert-type 0 (Disagree) - 7 (Agree) scale.
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Biomedical Development Corporation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Elise Marino, PhD, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

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 (Estimated)

July 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 15, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 15, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00002308
  • 4R44DA059017-02 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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