A Smartphone Based Intervention for the Prevention of Relapse in Alcohol Dependence (SPIRA)

Salus Klinik Lindow

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Alcohol Abuse; Alcohol Use Disorder; Alcohol Dependence

Treatments: Behavioral: Inactive Cognitive Bias Modification; Behavioral: Anti Alcohol App with Active Cognitive Bias

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NETWORK

Identifiers

NCT03952429

SPIRA

Details and patient eligibility

About

The rate of relapse following an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program has been around 50% for a number of years. Offered treatments mainly focus on conscious and controllable aspects of behaviour, but research has found that much of the craving in addiction is guided by automatic processes, which are for a large part unconscious and poorly controlled by the individual. One way to influence these automatic processes is by applying cognitive bias modification, a cognitive-behavioural intervention that can be applied by a computer application. In alcohol addition, a common cognitive bias is the Alcohol-Approach bias. The Anti-Alcohol Training is a form of cognitive bias modification that was developed to reduce this approach bias and it has been shown to reduce the rates of relapse by 4-8%. A drawback of the training is that patients do not continue this at home after discharge. One way to increase accessibility is to offer the training in an app-game form.

In this study the investigators have developed a smartphone based training app that allows patients to more easily use the Anti-Alcohol training at home after discharge. The study aims to assess whether use of the app further reduces the alcohol bias and whether it can reduce yearly relapse rates.

Full description

The rate of relapse following an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program has been around 50% for a number of years, in spite of many initiatives to try and reduce relapse. One of the reasons could be that the offered treatments mainly focus on conscious and controllable aspects of behaviour. Recent research has however found that much of the craving in addiction is guided by automatic processes, which are for a large part unconscious and poorly controlled by the individual. Unsurprisingly, many attempts have therefore been made in addition research to reduce these automatic impulsive behaviour and improve the control processes.

One way to influence these automatic processes is by applying cognitive bias modification, a cognitive-behavioural intervention that can be applied by a computer application. In alcohol addition, a common cognitive bias is the Alcohol-Approach bias, the tendency to automatically approach alcohol. The Anti-Alcohol Training is a form of cognitive bias modification that was developed to reduce this approach bias. Studies have shows that this training can reduce the rates of relapse by 4-8%.

A drawback of the training is that patients often do not continue this at home after discharge, probably due to low motivation. One way to resolve this issue could be to offer the training in an App-game form, which would make it more accessible and inviting to continue using it after return home.

In this study the investigators have developed a smartphone based training app that allows patients to more easily use the Anti-Alcohol training at home after discharge. The study aims to assess whether alcohol dependent patients continue to use this app at home, whether the use of the app further reduces the alcohol bias, and finally whether it can reduce yearly relapse rates.

Enrollment: 600 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• A diagnosis of Alcohol dependence / Alcohol Use disorder
• Taking part in alcohol rehabilitation program in Salus Clinic Lindow or being part of a self-help group

Exclusion criteria

• Visual or motor impairments that would affect the use of smartphones

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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600 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Active Cognitive Bias App

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will receive the Anti-Alcohol App with the Active Cognitive Bias modification, as well as participant diaries assessing alcohol consumption and several questionnaires.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Anti Alcohol App with Active Cognitive Bias

Inactive Cognitive Bias Modification

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants will receive the Anti-Alcohol App with the Inactive Cognitive Bias Modification, as well as participant diaries assessing alcohol consumption and several questionnaires.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Inactive Cognitive Bias Modification