Use of transdermal alcohol sensors with or without CM
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Use of wearable transdermal alcohol sensors for monitoring alcohol consumption in individuals receiving treatment for AUD with contingency management: A feasibility study
IRAS ID
316566
Contact name
Eileen Brobbin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This study is going to evaluate the feasibility of using Transdermal Alcohol Sensor (TAS) devices with clinical population patients (patients who are currently accessing treatment from an alcohol service for their alcohol use). This study aims to assess the feasibility of using a transdermal alcohol sensor as part of alcohol treatment with alcohol service users using the device with or without contingency management.
The participants recruited will wear the device for two weeks, then complete a post wear survey and Time-Line Follow Back (TLFB). The post-wear survey will be used to explore the user-experience while the TLFB to determine device accuracy against self-report. Half of the participants will be randomised into the CM group and be able to earn rewards between £5 and £15 for target behaviour (drinking below the set TAC threshold as measured by the device), the other half will be the control group without any CM rewards.
The study will be conducted at four SLaM NHS alcohol services and will last approximately 6 months. We are studying how the intended population of this device (patients receiving alcohol treatment from their alcohol service) experience wearing the device. From this, we can see feasibility measures such as recruitment rate, willingness of participants to enrol and staff to enrol patients, follow up rates, response rates, and device tampering and malfunction. This is important to inform future research on the application of transdermal alcohol sensor devices in a larger study. This is a growing field of interest and in recent years there has been an increase in the number of transdermal alcohol sensor devices being developed.
Currently there is no published study, to our knowledge which has conducted a feasibility study with the clinical population, who have worn the device over an extended length of time with the BACtrack Skyn device.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SW/0066
Date of REC Opinion
22 May 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion