Financially Sustainable Remote Treatment for Alcohol Abuse: Feasibility

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Alcohol Use Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Contingency management: Noncontingent incentives; Behavioral: Contingency management: Contingent incentives

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04182022

R21AA023605

Details and patient eligibility

About

Directly reinforcing abstinence from alcohol with monetary incentives is an effective treatment for alcohol dependence, but barriers in obtaining frequent, verified biochemical measures of abstinence limit the dissemination of this treatment approach. The goal of this feasibility study is to use a breathalyzer and cost-controlling deposit contracts to facilitate a contingency-management intervention to reduce alcohol use that requires no in-person contact between the participants and the study staff during the intervention phase.

Enrollment: 92 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 90 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• At least 18 years old
• Provide written informed consent
• Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for alcohol use disorder
• Express a desire to cut down or quit drinking
• Be willing to pay a $75 deposit toward their incentive fund

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant or lactating
• Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for other substance use disorder (except caffeine or nicotine)
• Score 23 or greater on the Alcohol Withdrawal Symptom Checklist
• Have immediate plans to move out of the area

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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92 participants in 2 patient groups

Contingent

Active Comparator group

Description:

The Contingent group will receive nearly immediate monetary payments over the internet each day they remotely provide negative breathalyzer samples, but will not receive the payments if they provide positive samples or fail to provide samples in a timely manner.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Contingency management: Contingent incentives

Noncontingent

Sham Comparator group

Description:

The Noncontingent group will receive payments each day they successfully provide samples independent of the alcohol content of those samples.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Contingency management: Noncontingent incentives