Impact of Online Patient Feedback (OQ) to Therapist
Condition: Drug Addiction; Drug Abuse
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders; Behavior, Addictive
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Dropout represents one of the largest problems in substance abuse treatment. International
      and Nordic research show that only 20 - 40 % of substance abusers complete treatment as
      intended. At the same time, one of the most consistent factors of favourable post-treatment
      outcome is treatment completion. In spite of the serious and continuous challenge dropout
      represents the phenomena is not well understood and there is a need to explore more of the
      factors that influence dropout and how it can be counteracted. As also stated: "…effective
      methods for reducing the problem of dropouts from treatment is one more area in need of
      further research" (NOU 2003:4, s 77).

      For the general field of mental health one of the most important innovations involves
      providing therapists with patient feedback about their progress. The most well-established
      and widely researched feedback system is the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2). The system has
      been shown to improve treatment outcomes, including reduced treatment dropout and length of
      treatment, but the system is yet to be utilized with a substance abusing patient group. The
      aim of the present study is to examine the usefulness of OQ-45.2 with substance abusing
      patients.
    

Detailed description: 
      Hypotheses and research questions

      1. The OQ-45.2 feedback will be effective in identifying patients at risk of dropout of
      substance abuse treatment.

      1a. The condition were feedback is withheld from the therapist, will correctly identify
      patients who will dropout.

      Research Question: Is there variation in the accuracy of dropout prediction as a function of
      age, gender differences or type of substance abuse?

      2. The OQ-45.2 feedback will be effective in reducing dropout in outpatient substance abuse
      treatment.

      2a. The feedback condition will result in less dropout than the no-feedback condition.

      Research Question: Is there a variation in the OQ-45.2 preventive dropout effect due to age,
      gender or type of substance abuse?

      3. The OQ-45.2 feedback will shorten length of inpatient substance abuse treatment.

      3a. The feedback condition will identify patients who are ready to terminate therapy.

      Research Question: Is there variation in identification of patients ready to terminate as a
      function of age, gender differences or type of substance abuse?
    

Intervention name(s): OQ-45.2 no feedback; OQ-45.2
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Completion of the OQ-45.2 before each session, but no feedback to therapists or patients; Completion of the OQ-45.2 with real-time feedback to the therapist and full use of the suggested interventions every week of the treatment program
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Psychotherapy; Drug addiction; Drop-out; OQ-45.2; Clinical trial; Randomized Controlled Trail