The study tests a structured referral process for opioid overdose survivors, from pre-hospital emergency care to long-term treatment of the individual's substance use-related disorder.
Randomized controlled trial. Subjects are included if they are being treated by an ambulance in the Malmö uptake are for an opioid overdose requiring naloxone antidote administration, and if they sign informed written consent to the study. Subjects are randomized by ambulance staff to either an active intervention, or a control condition: Intervention: A telephone alert signal is sent from ambulance staff after successful naloxone reversal of an opioid overdose, leading to an active outreach effort from the staff of the addiction research facility, where staff locate the individual and offer her/him formal inclusion in the study. Control: No telephone alert signal is sent, and the active outreach procedure is not carried out. Ambulance staff hand over written information to the individual about how she/he can apply actively for treatment. Primary outcome is entry into formal assessment and treatment of the substance use disorder.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Telephone alert and outreach for inclusion, assessment and intake into long-term evidence-based treatment of the substance use disorder.
Written information from ambulance staff to the patient about how to seek treatment. Patient is able to contact the research treatment facility through a specific phone number, making it possible to study treatment entry in the information-only control condition.
Malmö Addiction Center
Malmo, Sweden
Treatment entry
Entry into formal assessment for evidence-based treatment of opioid use disorder
Time frame: Two weeks
Treatment retention
Retention in opioid maintenance treatment or other relevant evidence-based treatment for the substance-related condition, as measured in treatment records, and including the analysis of predictors of retention
Time frame: 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
Treatment outcome (urinalysis)
Drug-free status in treatment, as documented from hospital records of drug-free urines
Time frame: 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
Treatment outcome (hair analysis)
Drug-free status in treatment, as documented by hair analysis
Time frame: 3 months
Treatment outcome (self-report)
Drug-free status in treatment, described through self-report (AUDIT, DUDIT)
Time frame: 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
Treatment outcome (quality of life)
Self-report, EQ-5D (European Quality of life - 5 Dimensions) and visual analogue scale
Time frame: 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
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