Co-Use of Opioid Medications and Alcohol Prevention Study (COAPS)

Co-use of alcohol and opioid medications is known to be a serious health/safety hazard, yet persists despite these negative ramifications. With limited information available within peer-reviewed literature, large-scale system and clinical research have demonstrated 24-38% of those with alcohol use disorders also have an opioid addiction, with rates of past 30-day opioid medication misuse among those seeking alcohol treatment as high as 68%. Our research has shown that among community pharmacy patients receiving opioid medications for pain management, approximately 20-30% are engaged in co-use of alcohol. Community pharmacy is a highly valuable but underutilized resource and setting for identification and intervention to address the US opioid epidemic. We propose to adapt, manualize, and test the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an alcohol-targeted Brief Intervention-Medication Therapy Management (ABI-MTM) intervention with community pharmacy patients. ABI-MTM will be a pharmacy-based medication management intervention, combined with Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to treatment that will target: (1) alcohol use elimination during opioid treatment OR (2) non-opioid pain management substitution (in consultation with the prescriber). We will conduct a small-scale trial in 3 community pharmacy locations wherein we will randomize patients with heavy alcohol use and with non-heavy alcohol use (1-to-1 ratio) to ABI-MTM (n=20) or standard medication counseling (SMC, n=20). Results will demonstrate intervention acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy. This study will also work to identify pharmacy system and practice-level barriers and facilitators for universal alcohol screening and intervention among opioid recipients. We will develop a mixed methods assessment guide to interview pharmacy technicians (N=20), pharmacists (N=20), and corporate leaders (N=20). Interviews will assess perceptions towards screening/intervention, internal organizational challenges, and processes related to ABI-MTM implementation for large-scale research and practice. Altogether, results of this study will provide critical insights, foundational data, and strategies for executing a powered trial and possible future system/practice-level implementation.

University of Utah