Prevention of Relapse Through Cognitive Cycling in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder Following Alcohol Withdrawal (TUA-VelCo)

July 8, 2026 updated by: Dr Anne-Laure VIREVIALLE, Centre Hospitalier Esquirol

Prevention of Relapse Through Cognitive Cycling in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder Following Alcohol Withdrawal: Protocol for the TUA-VelCo Randomised Controlled Trial

TUA-VelCo is a single-center randomized controlled superiority trial with blinded methodological assessment. Adult patients hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal and meeting the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition will be eligible for inclusion. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a cognitive cycling intervention group or a control group.

Participants in the experimental group will receive, in addition to standard addiction care, 12 cognitive cycling sessions (three sessions per week over four weeks). The control group will receive standard care combined with 12 scheduled telephone interviews conducted in parallel with the cognitive cycling sessions. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, 1 month (M1), and 3 months (M3) following hospital discharge.

The primary outcome will be the proportion of participants maintaining abstinence at M1. Secondary outcomes include maintenance of abstinence at M3 and within-group and between-group changes in craving, cognitive functioning, insight, psychiatric symptoms, and motivation to maintain abstinent. These outcomes will be assessed using validated scales, including the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Hanil Alcohol Insight Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. Biomarkers related to alcohol consumption and neuroplasticity will also be evaluated.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

128

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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:

  • adults aged ≥ 18 years
  • patients with a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) according to DSM-5 criteria
  • who have been hospitalized for complex withdrawal and aim to maintain abstinence after discharge
  • patients must have preserved cognitive function, defined as a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score ≥ 26
  • patients must provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • pregnant women
  • patients with unstable psychiatric or somatic conditions
  • with a contraindication to physical activity
  • participants in structured rehabilitation programs during the first month
  • adult under guardianship
  • with inability to understand French or provide informed consent
  • with major neurocognitive disorder
  • with regular physical activity
  • participation in another interventional study interfering with outcomes

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitive cycling group
Participants in the experimental (cognitive cycling) group will receive, in addition to standard addiction care, 12 cognitive cycling sessions (three sessions per week over four weeks)
Other: cognitive cycling
Participants in the experimental group will receive, in addition to standard addiction care, 12 cognitive cycling sessions (three sessions per week over four weeks). The control group will receive standard care combined with 12 scheduled telephone interviews conducted in parallel with the cognitive cycling sessions. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, 1 month (M1), and 3 months (M3) following hospital discharge.
No Intervention: Control phone group
The control phone group will receive standard care combined with 12 scheduled telephone interviews conducted in parallel with the cognitive cycling sessions

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
proportion of participants maintaining abstinence at M1
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of the treatment at 4 weeks
From enrollment to the end of the treatment at 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Esquirol

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 8, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 8, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025-A01438-41

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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