Digital Clinical Trials for Substance Use Disorders in the Age of Covid-19.
J Addict Med
; 14(6): e297-e302, 2020 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1020282
ABSTRACT
As a result of the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, clinical research for substance use disorders (SUDs) has been impeded due to widespread stay-at-home mandates limiting the operations of "non-essential" work. Although appropriate to proceed with an abundance of caution to prevent viral spread, there will be detrimental consequences for patients with SUDs if clinical trials research cannot adapt and continue uninterrupted. The field of digital health has strong evidence for its feasibility and effectiveness and offers tools that can facilitate the continuation of SUD clinical trials research remotely in accordance with Covid-19 precautions. Some digital tools have been used as components of SUD research in the past; however, no published clinical trial in SUDs to-date has been entirely virtual. This has important implications for disrupted clinical care, as providers seek guidelines for best digital practices. This paper provides a roadmap for integrating the fields of digital health and SUD clinical trials by proposing methods to complete recruitment, screening, informed consent, other study procedures, and internal lab operations digitally. The immediate future of SUD research depends on the ability to comply with social distancing. Investment in research of digital clinical trials for SUDs provides an opportunity to cultivate benefits for research and clinical care long-term as we can (1) define regulatory requirements for the implementation of digital systems, (2) develop consensus on system-wide standards and protocols in the appropriate use of technology, and (3) gain experience that can translate to the treatment of patients with SUDs through telehealth in the community.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Clinical Trials as Topic
/
Telemedicine
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Substance-Related Disorders
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Addict Med
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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