Full-Avoidance vs. Permissive/Regulated Drinking & Outcomes On Fibrillation

NCT ID: NCT06754176

Last Updated: 2025-12-23

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

100 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-04-17

Study Completion Date

2029-08-31

Brief Summary

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The goal of this study is to assess the short-term effects of minimal and moderate drinking on atrial fibrillation (AFib) episodes in a real-world population diagnosed with 'come-and-go'/paroxysmal AFib. The question it aims to answer is:

Is there a greater occurrence of AFib episodes when participants are allowed to consume alcohol according to random assignment?

Participants will:

* Be given daily random assignments to avoid or not to avoid alcohol
* Wear an adhesive electrocardiographic (ECG) heart monitor
* Wear a wrist-worn fitness tracker
* Wear an anklet transdermal alcohol monitor
* Wear an adhesive glucose monitor
* Complete morning and evening surveys daily

Participants may be compensated up to $50 for full completion of the study. This study can be done in-person or remote.

Detailed Description

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This study is a case-crossover randomized trial, where each participant will be instructed to avoid or not avoid drinking alcohol on randomly assigned days during a 14-day monitoring period. Participants will also wear an external ECG monitor, an alcohol monitor, a continuous glucose monitor, and a fitness tracker for up to two weeks while utilizing a mobile application to receive daily instructions/reminders on drinking and short surveys. The investigators will compare participant self-report of alcohol consumption, glucose monitoring, fitness levels, sleep health, and heart rhythm data in order to better understand the immediate relationship between drinking alcohol and heart rhythm. A total of 100 participants will be enrolled.

Conditions

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Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Atrial Fibrillation (Paroxysmal)

Keywords

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Alcohol Drinking Mediterranean Drinking Pattern Atrial Fibrillation AFib AF Heart Rhythm

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

CROSSOVER

This is a randomized, case-crossover trial.
Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Alcohol Non-Avoidance Case-Crossover Arm

On a given day of the 14-day study period, participants may be randomly assigned to not avoid consuming alcohol. All participants will be instructed that any alcohol consumed should not be more than 2 drinks in a 24 hour period for men and not more than 1 drink in a 24 hour period for women.

The frequency of randomization will be tailored to the baseline usual frequency of alcohol consumption: For example, those who drink an average of 4 days a week/don't drink 3 days a week will have their randomization programmed to assure an average of 7 non-drinking days over the two-week period. Participants will not receive the same randomization assignment more than two consecutive days in a row.

Participants will press a button on their continuously recording ECG monitor to time-stamp every alcohol drink consumed.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Alcohol Consumption Randomized Instructions

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Alcohol Avoidance: In this intervention assignment, participants will be instructed to avoid drinking alcohol for this day.

Alcohol Non-Avoidance: In this intervention assignment, participants will be allowed to drink alcohol for this day.

Alcohol Avoidance Case-Crossover Arm

On a given day of the 14-day study period, participants may be randomly assigned to avoid consuming alcohol.

The frequency of randomization will be tailored to the baseline usual frequency of alcohol consumption: For example, those who drink an average of 4 days a week/don't drink 3 days a week will have their randomization programmed to assure an average of 7 non-drinking days over the two-week period. Participants will not receive the same randomization assignment more than two consecutive days in a row.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Alcohol Consumption Randomized Instructions

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Alcohol Avoidance: In this intervention assignment, participants will be instructed to avoid drinking alcohol for this day.

Alcohol Non-Avoidance: In this intervention assignment, participants will be allowed to drink alcohol for this day.

Interventions

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Alcohol Consumption Randomized Instructions

Alcohol Avoidance: In this intervention assignment, participants will be instructed to avoid drinking alcohol for this day.

Alcohol Non-Avoidance: In this intervention assignment, participants will be allowed to drink alcohol for this day.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Comfortable reading and writing in English
* Have a smartphone and willing and able to use the Eureka mobile application
* Currently diagnosed with paroxysmal AFib without a plan to change their AFib management during the two-week monitoring period
* At least one episode of AFib in the past month OR, in the judgement of a healthcare provider, could potentially have one episode of AF in the next month
* Drank alcohol at least 1 day/week on average in the past month
* Willing and able to be randomly assigned daily to avoid or not avoid drinking alcohol over a 2-week period
* Willing and able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

* Only post-operative AFib
* Greater than 40% ventricular pacing
* History of alcohol addiction or abuse determined by self-reported history or AUDIT-C score
* Intolerance to alcohol
* History of liver disease
* Currently incarcerated
* Currently pregnant or trying to get pregnant
Minimum Eligible Age

21 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of California, San Francisco

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Gregory Marcus, MD, MAS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, San Francisco

Locations

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UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus

San Francisco, California, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay

San Francisco, California, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Gregory M Marcus, MD, MAS

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 415-476-5706

Email: [email protected]

Hannah H Oo, BS

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 415-476-4999

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

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Study Principal Investigator

Role: primary

Study Principal Investigator

Role: primary

References

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Chung MK, Eckhardt LL, Chen LY, Ahmed HM, Gopinathannair R, Joglar JA, Noseworthy PA, Pack QR, Sanders P, Trulock KM; American Heart Association Electrocardiography and Arrhythmias Committee and Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Secondary Prevention Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; and Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health. Lifestyle and Risk Factor Modification for Reduction of Atrial Fibrillation: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020 Apr 21;141(16):e750-e772. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000748. Epub 2020 Mar 9.

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Mukamal KJ, Tolstrup JS, Friberg J, Jensen G, Gronbaek M. Alcohol consumption and risk of atrial fibrillation in men and women: the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Circulation. 2005 Sep 20;112(12):1736-42. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.547844. Epub 2005 Sep 12.

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Mukamal KJ, Psaty BM, Rautaharju PM, Furberg CD, Kuller LH, Mittleman MA, Gottdiener JS, Siscovick DS. Alcohol consumption and risk and prognosis of atrial fibrillation among older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Am Heart J. 2007 Feb;153(2):260-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2006.10.039.

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Djousse L, Levy D, Benjamin EJ, Blease SJ, Russ A, Larson MG, Massaro JM, D'Agostino RB, Wolf PA, Ellison RC. Long-term alcohol consumption and the risk of atrial fibrillation in the Framingham Study. Am J Cardiol. 2004 Mar 15;93(6):710-3. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2003.12.004.

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PMID: 6625772 (View on PubMed)

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Marcus GM, Dukes JW, Vittinghoff E, Nah G, Badhwar N, Moss JD, Lee RJ, Lee BK, Tseng ZH, Walters TE, Vedantham V, Gladstone R, Fan S, Lee E, Fang C, Ogomori K, Hue T, Olgin JE, Scheinman MM, Hsia H, Ramchandani VA, Gerstenfeld EP. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Intravenous Alcohol to Assess Changes in Atrial Electrophysiology. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2021 May;7(5):662-670. doi: 10.1016/j.jacep.2020.11.026. Epub 2021 Jan 27.

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Aung S, Nah G, Vittinghoff E, Groh CA, Fang CD, Marcus GM. Population-Level Analyses of Alcohol Consumption as a Predictor of Acute Atrial Fibrillation Episodes. Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2022 Jan;1(1):23-27. doi: 10.1038/s44161-021-00003-7. Epub 2022 Jan 12. No abstract available.

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Mandyam MC, Vedantham V, Scheinman MM, Tseng ZH, Badhwar N, Lee BK, Lee RJ, Gerstenfeld EP, Olgin JE, Marcus GM. Alcohol and vagal tone as triggers for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 2012 Aug 1;110(3):364-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.03.033. Epub 2012 Apr 20.

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Whitman IR, Agarwal V, Nah G, Dukes JW, Vittinghoff E, Dewland TA, Marcus GM. Alcohol Abuse and Cardiac Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017 Jan 3;69(1):13-24. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2016.10.048.

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Groh CA, Faulkner M, Getabecha S, Taffe V, Nah G, Sigona K, McCall D, Hills MT, Sciarappa K, Pletcher MJ, Olgin JE, Marcus GM. Patient-reported triggers of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 2019 Jul;16(7):996-1002. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2019.01.027. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

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Marcus GM, Modrow MF, Schmid CH, Sigona K, Nah G, Yang J, Chu TC, Joyce S, Gettabecha S, Ogomori K, Yang V, Butcher X, Hills MT, McCall D, Sciarappa K, Sim I, Pletcher MJ, Olgin JE. Individualized Studies of Triggers of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: The I-STOP-AFib Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Cardiol. 2022 Feb 1;7(2):167-174. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2021.5010.

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Marcus GM, Vittinghoff E, Whitman IR, Joyce S, Yang V, Nah G, Gerstenfeld EP, Moss JD, Lee RJ, Lee BK, Tseng ZH, Vedantham V, Olgin JE, Scheinman MM, Hsia H, Gladstone R, Fan S, Lee E, Fang C, Ogomori K, Fatch R, Hahn JA. Acute Consumption of Alcohol and Discrete Atrial Fibrillation Events. Ann Intern Med. 2021 Nov;174(11):1503-1509. doi: 10.7326/M21-0228. Epub 2021 Aug 31.

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Other Identifiers

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24-41856

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

R01AA022222

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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