Clinical trial NCT04958200: Alcohol Use and Chronic Pain Among Primary Care Patients
Official title: Integrated Technology-Based Intervention to Reduce Heavy Drinking and Chronic Pain Among Patients in Primary Care
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Alcohol Drinking
Chronic Pain
Lead sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
First posted: 2021-07-12
Enrollment: 49
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Compare intervention to a treatment as usual comparison condition
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Chronic pain and unhealthy drinking are common co-occurring conditions among patients presenting to primary care. Given their impact on functioning and medical outcomes, there would be considerable benefit to developing an accessible, easily utilized, integrative approach to reduce unhealthy alcohol use and pain that can be readily incorporated into the primary care setting. The objective of this study is to test a smartphone-based intervention for reducing unhealthy alcohol use and pain in primary care patients, determine the feasibility of implementing this intervention in the primary care setting, provide effect size estimates of the intervention on drinking and chronic pain outcomes.

Detailed description: Heavy alcohol use represents a significant risk for morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, addressing unhealthy patterns of alcohol use in primary care is often a challenge as patients typically present with co-morbid conditions that: (1) may make unhealthy drinking a lower priority health issue and (2) may impact the capacity for sustained alcohol-related change. Chronic pain is among the most common of these conditions among primary care patients. Pain is a frequent source of distress and disability among primary care patients and is one of the most frequent causes for visits. Pain is also an important trigger for alcohol use among primary care patients who drink and is associated with the experience of negative alcohol-related consequences and unhealthy drinking over time. The experience of pain has also been shown to be associated with poorer responses to alcohol interventions. Primary care physicians face a number of challenges when attempting to treat co-occurring unhealthy drinking and pain among their patients. Pain management and reduction of alcohol use among those who engage in heavy alcohol use is often not adequately achieved with pharmacological treatments nor are pharmacological treatments indicated for common pain conditions. Moreover, despite the availability of evidence-based psychosocial interventions for unhealthy drinking and chronic pain, patients with each of these conditions typically show poor adherence to treatment. Given the rates of pain and unhealthy alcohol use among primary care patients and their impact on functioning and medical outcomes, there would be considerable benefit to an accessible, easily utilized, integrative approach to treat heavy alcohol use and pain that can be readily incorporated into the primary care setting. The objectives of this study are to develop a smartphone-based intervention for reducing heavy alcohol use and pain in primary care patients, determine the feasibility of implementing this intervention in the primary care setting, provide effect size estimates of the intervention on outcomes, and develop procedures to conduct a Stage II efficacy trial.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 1 heavy drinking: defined as either \[1\] an average of more than 7(for women)/14 (for men) standard drinks per week over the past month or \[2\] one or more heavy drinking episodes (4+ standard drinks for women, 5+ standard drinks for men)
* 2 chronic pain: defined as non-cancer related pain of at least 3 months duration rated as moderate or greater (past week pain severity rating of 4 or greater on the BPI severity item)

Exclusion Criteria:

* psychoactive medication for pain or alcohol use for fewer than 2 months
* history of bipolar disorder or schizophenia
* current expressed suicidal intent
* prior history of alcohol withdrawal related seizures or delirium tremens
* behavioral treatment for pain or alcohol use in the past 3 months
* any scheduled surgery within the next 6 months or acute life threatening illness that requires treatment

Primary outcomes:
measure: Alcohol Time Line Followback (30)- Heavy Drinking Episode Days in the Past 30 Days
timeFrame: Past 30 days as assessed at the 16-week timepoint
measure: Alcohol Time Line Followback (30)- Average Drinks Per Week in the Past 30 Days
timeFrame: Past 30 days as assessed at the 16-week timepoint
measure: The Pain, Enjoyment of Life, General Activity (PEG) Scale
timeFrame: Past 7 days as assessed at the 16-week timepoint
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Pain Intensity - Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Items
timeFrame: past 7 days as assessed at the 16-week timepoint
measure: Pain Interference
timeFrame: past 7 days as assessed at the 16-week timepoint
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: Boston University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
state: Massachusetts
Study officials:
References: