Treatment choices and subsequent attendance by substance-dependent patients who disengage from intensive outpatient treatment.

In an effort to increase engagement in effective treatment, we offered a choice of alternate evidence-based treatments to 137 alcohol- or cocaine-dependent adults (110 males, 27 females) who entered an intensive outpatient program (IOP) but disengaged within the first 8 weeks. We hypothesized that disengaged patients would choose and subsequently attend alternatives to IOP when given the chance, that their choices would be consistent with their previously-stated preferences, and that demographic and clinical characteristics would be predictive of alternatives chosen. Of 96 participants reached by phone, 19% chose no treatment; 49% chose to return to IOP; 24% chose individual psychotherapy; 6% chose telephone counseling; 2% chose naltrexone with medication management. There were few relationships between participant characteristics and choices made upon disengagement. Participants who chose alternative treatments were equally likely to attend their chosen treatment as those who chose IOP. Limited interest in alternative treatments may reflect allegiance to IOP, which was initially chosen by all participants. Implications for implementation of patient-centered adaptive treatment are discussed.

Social network correlates of participation in telephone continuing care for alcohol dependence.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Research on face-to-face treatment for substance misuse suggests that patients' social networks may impact treatment entry and participation, but there has been no similar research on entry and participation in telephone-based continuing care. We examined whether alcohol-specific social support predicted engagement and participation in telephone continuing care for alcohol dependence, and whether treatment participation resulted in beneficial changes in participants' social networks. METHODS: Participants were 252 adults (162 male) enrolled in a randomized clinical trial testing the effectiveness of telephone continuing care for alcohol dependence. Participants who completed 3 weeks of intensive outpatient treatment were randomly assigned to treatment as usual, telephone monitoring (TM; N = 83), or telephone monitoring and brief counseling (TMC; N = 83). TM and TMC included 18 months of telephone treatment. Alcohol-specific social support was measured with the Important People Inventory at baseline and 6, 12, 18, and 24-month follow-up. RESULTS: Alcohol-specific social support did not predict entry into TM or TMC. Among those who entered telephone treatment (N = 127), participants with higher network percentage of daily drinkers, higher percentage of network members who accept drinking, and lower percentage of network members who do not accept drinking completed more continuing care calls. There was no effect of continuing care participation on alcohol-specific social support over 24 months of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Participants with more problematic social networks may self-select additional support in the form of telephone continuing care. Telephone continuing care does not appear to result in social network change.

A randomized, controlled study of treatment for alcohol dependence in patients awaiting liver transplantation.

Alcohol is the second most common cause of cirrhosis necessitating liver transplantation in the United States, yet rates of posttransplant drinking approach 50% and no controlled clinical trials of alcoholism treatment exist in this population. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), or referral to local treatment sources ("treatment as usual" [TAU]). Addictive behavior, mood states, and general health were compared. Candor concerning alcohol use was encouraged by keeping drinking questionnaires in confidence, except in medical emergencies. Ninety-one subjects were studied; 46 received MET, 45 received TAU, 29 proceeded to transplantation (MET, n = 13; TAU, n = 16). A total of 69 subjects completed 24 weeks of observation, and 25 subjects were assessed at 96 weeks. No difference in study attendance was observed, but significantly more MET subjects attended 1 or more treatment sessions. Twenty-three subjects (25% of sample) drank after randomization but before transplant. Excluding an extreme outlier, MET drinkers had significantly fewer drinks per drinking days than TAU drinkers. Neither treatment plan resulted in significant variances in measures of psychosocial health. In conclusion, although MET afforded no significant benefit over TAU for mood or general health outcomes, this study provides some degree of support for MET to limit the quantity and frequency of pretransplant alcohol consumption among liver transplant candidates with alcohol dependence. However, because of the limited number of study subjects, these data must be interpreted cautiously. Further research to validate our findings or to identify better methods to identify and intervene with patients at risk of pretransplant and posttransplant drinking should continue.

The predictive validity of the progress assessment, a clinician administered instrument for use in measurement-based care for substance use disorders.

We tested the predictive validity of the Progress Assessment (PA), a brief counselor administered tool for use in measurement-based care for substance use disorders. The PA includes 5 items assessing relapse risk and 5 items assessing factors protective against relapse. Data were drawn from a completed study of continuing care for cocaine dependence (McKay et al., 2013) and includes 12 months of follow-up on158 participants (76% male) who received brief telephone or face-to-face sessions. Each session began with the administration of the PA, followed by cognitive-behavioral counseling tied to the results of the PA and anticipated risky situations. Outcome was assessed via urine toxicology every 3 months. As administered in an effectiveness trial, average PA risk and protective scales within each 3-month segment of the study predicted urine toxicology results at the end of that period, with higher risk scores and lower protective scores predicting greater rates of cocaine positive urine drug screens. PA scores did not predict dropout from continuing care participation. The 10-item PA shows promise as a pragmatic clinical tool for ongoing monitoring during continuing care for substance dependence.

A randomized controlled trial evaluating integrated versus phased application of evidence-based psychotherapies for military veterans with comorbid PTSD and substance use disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Recent clinical practice guidelines recommend the delivery of evidence-based psychotherapies for both substance use disorder (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within the same treatment episode for patients with SUD/PTSD comorbidity. This randomized clinical trial evaluated the comparative effectiveness of integrating versus phasing evidence-based psychotherapies for SUD and PTSD among veterans with co-occurring SUD/ PTSD. METHOD: 183 veterans with DSM-IV PTSD and SUD at two VA Medical Centers were randomized to one of two psychotherapies during which Motivational Enhancement Therapy [MET] for SUD and Prolonged Exposure [PE] for PTSD were either phased or integrated throughout treatment. Primary outcomes as evaluated by blinded assessors were percent days with drug use or heavy drinking and PTSD symptomology. We hypothesized integrated MET/PE (n = 95) would yield better SUD and PTSD-related outcomes at posttreatment than phased MET/PE (n = 88). RESULTS: In intent-to-treat analyses (n=183), both treatment groups achieved clinically (d=0.46 - 1.06) and statistically significant reductions in SUD (p < 0.01) and PTSD (p < 0.01) symptomology; the time by treatment interactions were not significant. Post-hoc analyses could not confirm statistical non-inferiority; between-group effect sizes suggest a lack of clinically-meaningful differences between the two treatment approaches (d=0.08 - 0.27). CONCLUSIONS: Our hypothesis that integrated MET/PE would result in better outcomes than phased MET/PE across a range of PTSD and SUD measures was not supported; both strategies for combining two single-disorder treatments for co-occurring SUD/PTSD yielded significant symptom reduction.

Site matters: multisite randomized trial of motivational enhancement therapy in community drug abuse clinics.

The effectiveness of motivational enhancement therapy (MET) in comparison with counseling as usual (CAU) for increasing retention and reducing substance use was evaluated in a multisite randomized clinical trial. Participants were 461 outpatients treated by 31 therapists within 1 of 5 outpatient substance abuse programs. There were no retention differences between the 2 brief intervention conditions. Although both 3-session interventions resulted in reductions in substance use during the 4-week therapy phase, MET resulted in sustained reductions during the subsequent 12 weeks whereas CAU was associated with significant increases in substance use over this follow-up period. This finding was complicated by program site main effects and higher level interactions. MET resulted in more sustained substance use reductions than CAU among primary alcohol users, but no difference was found for primary drug users. An independent evaluation of session audiotapes indicated that MET and CAU were highly and comparably discriminable across sites.

Study design, interventions, and baseline characteristics for the Substance use and TRauma Intervention for VEterans (STRIVE) trial.

While comorbidity between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD) is common among veterans, there is debate regarding how to best treat individuals suffering from both conditions. Despite data supporting the effectiveness of integrated treatments that simultaneously address both disorders, due to concerns that an early focus on trauma may increase dropout and reduce the likelihood of achieving SUD-related goals, providers continue to prefer a sequential approach, where the addiction is treated first and PTSD treatment is instituted following sustained abstinence or reduced use. This project is designed to directly examine these provider concerns by evaluating the benefits and harms of an integrated versus a sequential approach to treating comorbid PTSD and SUD. This paper reviews the study's methodology, treatment approaches, and baseline participant characteristics. In this randomized clinical trial, one hundred eighty-three veterans with co-occurring PTSD and SUD have been randomized to one of two psychotherapies that include the same treatment components for SUD and PTSD (Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Prolonged Exposure respectively), but differ by whether the components are delivered sequentially or are integrated such that PTSD and SUD symptoms are addressed concurrently. We hypothesize that veterans assigned to integrated treatment will show greater improvement in PTSD and SUD symptoms than veterans assigned to sequential treatment. If this hypothesis is supported, the findings have the potential to change clinicians' beliefs and challenge long-standing practice patterns that require participation in SUD treatment prior to initiating trauma-focused therapies for PTSD.

Effect of patient choice in an adaptive sequential randomization trial of treatment for alcohol and cocaine dependence.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of providing choice of treatment alternatives to patients who fail to engage in or drop out of intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) for substance dependence. METHOD: Alcohol- and/or cocaine-dependent patients (N = 500) participated in a sequential, multiple-assignment, randomized trial (SMART). Those who failed to engage in an IOP at Week 2 (N = 189) or who dropped out after engagement (N = 84) were randomized for motivational-interviewing (MI) telephone calls that focused on engagement in an IOP (MI-IOP) or provided a choice of IOP type or 3 treatment options (MI-PC, or patient choice). Those not engaged at both 2 and 8 weeks (N = 102) were re-randomized either to MI-PC or no further outreach. Outcomes were treatment attendance and measures of alcohol and cocaine use obtained at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months. RESULTS: MI-PC produced better attendance than comparison conditions in patients who dropped out after initial engagement and in those re-randomized at 8 weeks. However, contrary to study hypotheses, MI-IOP produced significantly better alcohol-use outcomes than MI-PC in alcohol-dependent patients not engaged at Week 2. There were no other significant differences between treatment conditions on other main-effect analyses with alcohol- or cocaine-outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Providing treatment options via telephone calls to patients who failed to engage in IOP did not produce better substance-use outcomes than outreach calls focused on engagement in IOP. Future researchers should investigate the potential benefits of choice at other points in treatment (e.g., at intake) as well as choice of other combinations of treatments.

Who benefits from extended continuing care for cocaine dependence?

The goal of this study was to determine which cocaine dependent patients engaged in an intensive outpatient program (IOP) were most likely to benefit from extended continuing care (24 months). Participants (N=321) were randomized to: IOP treatment as usual (TAU), TAU plus Telephone Monitoring and Counseling (TMC), or TAU plus TMC plus incentives for session attendance (TMC+). Potential moderators examined were gender, stay in a controlled environment prior to IOP, number of prior drug treatments, and seven measures of progress toward IOP goals. Outcomes were: (1) abstinence from all drugs and heavy alcohol use, and (2) cocaine urine toxicology. Follow-ups were conducted at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months post-baseline. Results indicated that there were significant effects favoring TMC+ over TAU on the cocaine urine toxicology outcome for participants in a controlled environment prior to IOP and for those with no days of depression early in IOP. Trends were obtained favoring TMC over TAU for those in a controlled environment (cocaine urine toxicology outcome) or with high family/social problem severity (abstinence composite outcome), and TMC+ over TAU for those with high family/social problem severity or high self-efficacy (cocaine urine toxicology outcome). None of the other potential moderator effects examined reached the level of a trend. These results generally do not suggest that patients with greater problem severity or poorer performance early in treatment on the measures considered in this report will benefit to a greater degree from extended continuing care.

Factors in sustained recovery from cocaine dependence.

The goal was to identify factors that predicted sustained cocaine abstinence and transitions from cocaine use to abstinence over 24 months. Data from baseline assessments and multiple follow-ups were obtained from three studies of continuing care for patients in intensive outpatient programs (IOPs). In the combined sample, remaining cocaine abstinent and transitioning into abstinence at the next follow-up were predicted by older age, less education, and less cocaine and alcohol use at baseline, and by higher self-efficacy, commitment to abstinence, better social support, lower depression, and lower scores on other problem severity measures assessed during the follow-up. In addition, higher self-help participation, self-help beliefs, readiness to change, and coping assessed during the follow-up predicted transitions from cocaine use to abstinence. These results were stable over 24 months. Commitment to abstinence, self-help behaviors and beliefs, and self-efficacy contributed independently to the prediction of cocaine use transitions. Implications for treatment are discussed.

Diabetes nurse case management and motivational interviewing for change (DYNAMIC): results of a 2-year randomized controlled pragmatic trial.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to determine whether the addition of nurse case managers (NCMs) trained in motivational interviewing (MI) to usual care would result in improved outcomes in high-risk type 2 diabetes patients. METHODS: A 2-year randomized controlled pragmatic trial randomized 545 patients to usual care control (n=313) or those who received the intervention (n=232) with additional practice-embedded NCM care, including MI-guided behavior change counseling. The NCMs received intensive MI training with ongoing fidelity assessment. RESULTS: Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was better in the intervention than usual care group (131 ± 15 vs. 135 ± 18 mmHg, respectively; P<0.05). Improvements were seen in both the control and intervention groups in terms of HbA1c (from 9.1% to 8.0% and from 8.8% to 7.8%, respectively), low-density lipoprotein (LDL; from 127 to 100 mg/dL and from 128 to 102 mg/dL, respectively), and diastolic blood pressure (from 78 to 74 mmHg and from 80 to 74 mmHg, respectively). Depression symptom scores were better in the intervention group. The reduction in diabetes-related distress approached statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The NCMs and MI improved SBP and complications screening. The large decrease in HbA1C and LDL in the control group may have obscured any further intervention effect. Although nurses prompted providers for medication titration, strategies to reduce provider clinical inertia may also be needed.

Enhanced continuing care provided in parallel to intensive outpatient treatment does not improve outcomes for patients with cocaine dependence.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested whether the addition of an enhanced continuing care (ECC) intervention that combined in-person and telephone sessions and began in the first week of treatment improved outcomes for cocaine-dependent patients entering an intensive outpatient program (IOP). METHOD: Participants (N = 152) were randomized to IOP treatment as usual (TAU) or IOP plus 12 months of ECC. ECC included cognitive-behavioral therapy elements to increase coping skills, as well as monetary incentives for attendance. It was provided by counselors situated at a separate clinical research facility who did not provide IOP. The primary outcomes measured were (a) cocaine urine toxicology and (b) good clinical outcome, as indicated by abstinence from all drugs and from heavy alcohol use. Secondary outcomes were frequency of abstinent days, cocaine use days, and heavy drinking days. Follow-ups were conducted at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after baseline. RESULTS: Patients in ECC completed a mean of 18 sessions. Contrary to the hypotheses, patients in TAU had better scores on both the cocaine urine toxicology and the good clinical outcome measures than those in ECC, as indicated by significant Group × Time interactions (cocaine urine toxicology, p = .0025; abstinence composite, p = .017). These results were not moderated by substance use before or early in treatment or by IOP attendance. Results with the secondary outcomes also did not favor ECC over TAU. CONCLUSIONS: Continuing care that is not well integrated with the primary treatment program may interfere in some way with the therapeutic process, particularly when it is implemented shortly after intake.

An adaptive approach for identifying cocaine dependent patients who benefit from extended continuing care.

OBJECTIVE: Study tested whether cocaine dependent patients using cocaine or alcohol at intake or in the first few weeks of intensive outpatient treatment would benefit more from extended continuing care than patients abstinent during this period. The effect of incentives for continuing care attendance was also examined. METHOD: Participants (N = 321) were randomized to treatment as usual (TAU), TAU and telephone monitoring and counseling (TMC), or TAU and TMC plus incentives (TMC+). The primary outcomes were (a) abstinence from all drugs and heavy alcohol use and (b) cocaine urine toxicology. Follow-ups were at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. RESULTS: Cocaine and alcohol use at intake or early in treatment predicted worse outcomes on both measures (ps ≤ .0002). Significant effects favoring TMC over TAU on the abstinence composite were obtained in participants who used cocaine (odds ratio [OR] = 1.95 [1.02, 3.73]) or alcohol (OR = 2.47 [1.28, 4.78]) at intake or early in treatment. A significant effect favoring TMC+ over TAU on cocaine urine toxicology was obtained in those using cocaine during that period (OR = 0.55 [0.31, 0.95]). Conversely, there were no treatment effects in participants abstinent at baseline and no overall treatment main effects. Incentives almost doubled the number of continuing care sessions received but did not further improve outcomes. CONCLUSION: An adaptive approach for cocaine dependence in which extended continuing care is provided only to patients who are using cocaine or alcohol at intake or early in treatment improves outcomes in this group while reducing burden and costs in lower risk patients.

Voucher incentives increase treatment participation in telephone-based continuing care for cocaine dependence.

BACKGROUND: Telephone-based monitoring is a promising approach to continuing care of substance use disorders, but patients often do not engage or participate enough to benefit. Voucher incentives can increase retention in outpatient treatment and continuing care, but may be less effective when reinforcement is delayed, as in telephone-based care. We compared treatment utilization rates among cocaine-dependent patients enrolled in telephone continuing care with and without voucher incentives to determine whether incentives increase participation in telephone-based care. METHOD: Participants were 195 cocaine-dependent patients who completed two weeks of community-based intensive outpatient treatment for substance use disorders and were randomly assigned to receive telephone continuing care with or without voucher incentives for participation as part of a larger clinical trial. The 12-month intervention included 2 in-person orientation sessions followed by up to 30 telephone sessions. Incentivized patients could receive up to $400 worth of gift cards. RESULTS: Patients who received incentives were not more likely to complete their initial orientation to continuing care. Incentivized patients who completed orientation completed 67% of possible continuing care sessions, as compared to 39% among non-incentivized patients who completed orientation. Among all patients randomized to receive incentives, the average number of completed sessions was 15.5, versus 7.2 for patients who did not receive incentives, and average voucher earnings were $200. CONCLUSIONS: Voucher incentives can have a large effect on telephone continuing care participation, even when reinforcement is delayed. Further research will determine whether increased participation leads to better outcome among patients who received incentives.

Extended telephone-based continuing care for alcohol dependence: 24-month outcomes and subgroup analyses.

AIMS: To determine whether 18 months of telephone continuing care improves 24-month outcomes for patients with alcohol dependence. Subgroup analyses were performed to identify patients who would benefit most from continuing care. DESIGN: Comparative effectiveness trial of continuing care that consisted of monitoring and feedback only (TM) or monitoring and feedback plus counseling (TMC). Patients were randomized to treatment as usual (TAU), TAU plus TM or TAU plus TMC, and followed quarterly for 24 months. SETTING: Publicly funded intensive out-patient programs (IOP). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 252 alcohol-dependent patients (49% with current cocaine dependence) who completed 3 weeks of IOP. MEASUREMENTS: Percentage of days drinking, any heavy drinking and a composite good clinical outcome. FINDINGS: In the intent-to-treat sample, group differences in alcohol outcomes out to 18 months favoring TMC over TAU were no longer present in months 19-24. There was also a non-significant trend for TMC to perform better than usual care on the good clinical outcome measure (60% vs. 46% good clinical outcome in months 19-24). Overall significant effects favoring TMC and TM over TAU were seen for women; and TMC was also superior to TAU for participants with social support for drinking, low readiness to change and prior alcohol treatments. Most of these effects were obtained on at least two of three outcomes. However, no effects remained significant at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: The benefits of an extended telephone-based continuing care programme to treat alcohol dependence did not persist after the end of the intervention. A post-hoc analysis suggested that women and individuals with social support for drinking, low readiness to change or prior alcohol treatments may benefit from the intervention.

Moderators of response to telephone continuing care for alcoholism.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate potential moderators of the effect of adding extended telephone monitoring (TM) and telephone monitoring and counseling (TMC) continuing care to treatment as usual (TAU) for alcoholism. Continuing care was predicted to be more effective for patients with severe substance-use histories, poor initial response to treatment, and other risk factors for relapse. METHODS: Randomized study with 18-month follow-up. Outcomes were frequency of drinking and any drinking. RESULTS: Main effects favored TMC over TAU on alcohol outcomes. However, none of the 11 variables examined moderated these effects. Conversely, main effect and moderator analyses indicated TM was more beneficial than TAU only for women and for participants with lower readiness to change. CONCLUSIONS: TMC improves drinking outcomes when added to standard care, regardless of alcohol use history, early response to treatment, or other risk factors for relapse. TM is recommended for women and less motivated patients.

A randomized trial of extended telephone-based continuing care for alcohol dependence: within-treatment substance use outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: The study tested whether adding up to 18 months of telephone continuing care, either as monitoring and feedback (TM) or longer contacts that included counseling (TMC), to intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) improved outcomes for alcohol-dependent patients. METHOD: Participants (N = 252) who completed 3 weeks of IOP were randomized to up to 36 sessions of TM (M = 11.5 sessions), TMC (M = 9.1 sessions), or IOP only (treatment as usual [TAU]). Quarterly assessment of alcohol use (79.9% assessed at 18 months) was corroborated with available collateral reports (N = 63 at 12 months). Participants with cocaine dependence (N = 199) also provided urine samples. RESULTS: Main effects favored TMC over TAU on any alcohol use (odds ratio [OR] = 1.88, CI [1.13, 3.14]) and any heavy alcohol use (OR = 1.74, CI [1.03, 2.94]). TMC produced fewer days of alcohol use during Months 10-18 and heavy alcohol use during Months 13-18 than TAU (ds = 0.46-0.65). TMC also produced fewer days of any alcohol use and heavy alcohol use than TM during Months 4-6 (ds = 0.39 and 0.43). TM produced lower percent days alcohol use than TAU during Months 10-12 and 13-15 (ds = 0.41 and 0.39). There were no treatment effects on rates of cocaine-positive urines. CONCLUSIONS: Adding telephone continuing care to IOP improved alcohol use outcomes relative to IOP alone. Conversely, shorter calls that provided monitoring and feedback but no counseling generally did not improve outcomes over IOP.