Funding Agency: NYU
With NIDA support, the NYU investigative team developed and validated a rapid battery of instruments that predict opioid reuse events during methadone and buprenorphine treatment. In 2019, the measures and model provided roughly 70% accurate prediction of reuse at least one week in advance of the event in patients receiving methadone (Konova et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2019). In a pilot cohort, the battery was successfully migrated to a smartphone platform, demonstrating very high retention and daily compliance over periods of up to 6 months.
StartCare is collaborating with the primary investigators to assess effective implementation and cost of the smartphone app, based on the predictive model, in methadone-based treatment. This project will introduce the intervention to individuals enrolled in methadone-based and buprenorphine-based treatment, while measuring impact on use rates (the number of drug use events per month). The study will assess two primary outcomes. First, it will compare the utility of an app-driven intervention (prediction-based) relative to Treatment as Usual (TAU) at reducing use rates. Second, the study will determine whether intervening before a use event is better than intervening after a use event has already occurred. To perform this assessment a third cohort will receive the app and a post hoc use-based (use-based) intervention.
The StartCare research team will recruit, screen, and consent participants, who will receive compensation from NYU. Select StartCare providers will receive training to implement the intervention in their care delivery with the identified participants.