Telemedicine in Addictions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility study of Telemedicine in Addictions Randomised Controlled Trial
IRAS ID
259335
Contact name
Soraya Mayet
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Humber Teaching NHS FT
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Opioid dependence is a chronic relapsing condition that has a high risk of death through accidental overdose. Opioid substitution treatment is an effective treatment for reducing deaths. UK guidelines recommended that patients prescribed opioid substitution treatment have an addictions prescriber consultation every 12 weeks. Nonattendance at addiction prescriber consultation appointments is high and worsens outcomes. It has been found that the further the distance to travel for an appointment, the higher chance of a missed appointment. \nEast Riding of Yorkshire County spans a large geographical area (almost 2,500 square kilometres) which presents a challenge for providing a comprehensive community addictions service. The addictions service uses a modified hub-and-spoke model to enhance access to the addictions service. However as there are few addiction prescribers, patients generally have their addiction prescriber consultation appointments at larger Hubs. Therefore patient’s may travel up to 50 km round trip for appointments, alternatively addiction prescribers travel and have less time to see patients. \nTelemedicine has been shown to improve attendance for some medical specialities and may be an intervention that could improve attendance rates in addictions. Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another through electronic communication such as Skype video-calling, to improve health. This has been found to be cost effective, reduce travel time, improve access to healthcare and improve patient satisfaction in a variety of medical conditions and healthcare settings. \nWhilst there is some evidence to support telemedicine for addictions provision internationally, there are no controlled trials. Therefore there is an urgent need to assess telemedicine with addiction patients. \nWe plan to test the feasibility of conducting a future larger trial evaluating the clinical and cost effectiveness of using telemedicine consultations to improve attendance at addiction prescriber appointments for patients with opioid dependent prescribed opioid substitution treatment.\n\n
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/YH/0237
Date of REC Opinion
27 Aug 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion