Motivational Interviewing to Increase Uptake of Drug Checking and Safe Drug Use Behaviors to Reduce Overdose
NCT ID: NCT06855836
Last Updated: 2025-12-12
Study Results
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Basic Information
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ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
NA
588 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2025-03-03
2029-05-31
Brief Summary
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Along with \~50 other syringe services programs (SSPs) in the US, the Harm Reduction Coalition San Diego (HRCSD), a local SSP, recently launched CheckSD (San Diego), a DCS using test strips (TS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) that allows people to submit drug samples with non-nominal identifiers and obtain personalized results. While most existing DCS using FTIR offer some counseling, no theory-based interventions to increase DCS uptake and promote post-DCS adoption of safer drug use behaviors have been rigorously evaluated
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Detailed Description
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Primary Objective: To test the efficacy of MI-CHANCE on reducing rates of combined fatal and non-fatal OD over 30 months and examine social cognitive theory (SCT)-informed mediators and moderators of intervention effects (i.e., knowledge, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy)
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
PREVENTION
NONE
Study Groups
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Standard of Care Control (SOC; Group 1) -TS + FTIR + Flu and Hepatitis A education.
Participants will receive naloxone, overdose prevention pamphlets and be shown videos (English or Spanish) on how naloxone works. Participants will be offered the services of drug sample testing by CheckSD's technician after their study session. The training videos will be on Flu and Hepatitis A education. Overall, the session for Group 1 as the attention control participants will last 30 minutes.
TS + FTIR + Flu and Hepatitis A Education
Naloxone and educational materials (i.e. pamphlets) on overdose prevention, videos (English or Spanish) on naloxone, flu and Hepatitis A education.
MI-CHANCE Intervention (Group 2) - TS+FTIR+MI.
Participants will receive naloxone, overdose prevention pamphlets and MI in a 30-minute counseling session. Trained peer-support specialists will engage participants in discussion on the drug supply, ask to rate how certain they are about their drugs' content, how they perceive their OD risk, and shown a brief video about FTIR. Using "decisional balance", participants will identify pros and cons of regularly using DCS prior to drug use and modifying drug use behaviors based on their own potential safer alternatives. Once the balance shifts towards positive change, they will be offered to get their own drug tested by CheckSD's technician and provided with results highlighting drug potency and purity. If they decline, a dummy sample containing fentanyl will be used. Participants will develop an action plan with harm reduction principles to problem-solve specific challenges, identify their goals to use DCS and prevent OD.
MI-CHANCE (TS + FTIR + MI)
MI-CHANCE was built following key principles of MI (partnership, acceptance, compassion and evocation) to empower PWUD, help them identify potential benefits of DCS and strategies to integrate these into their daily lives. The manual follows three key stages: 1) introducing DCS, 2) generating change talk, and 3) verbalizing commitment, using open questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries. Pros and cons for regularly using CheckSD and changing drug use behaviors accordingly were identified in the literature and through discussions with PWUD and HRCSD staff. Peer support specialists are urged to mirror participants' own language (e.g., oxy or M30s=oxycontin; carga= heroin; malilla=withdrawal, fetty=fentanyl). Challenges were categorized into 8 key areas: legal, financial, scheduling, transportation, ability to change drug use behaviors, communication with SSP staff, managing mood and substance use.
Interventions
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MI-CHANCE (TS + FTIR + MI)
MI-CHANCE was built following key principles of MI (partnership, acceptance, compassion and evocation) to empower PWUD, help them identify potential benefits of DCS and strategies to integrate these into their daily lives. The manual follows three key stages: 1) introducing DCS, 2) generating change talk, and 3) verbalizing commitment, using open questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries. Pros and cons for regularly using CheckSD and changing drug use behaviors accordingly were identified in the literature and through discussions with PWUD and HRCSD staff. Peer support specialists are urged to mirror participants' own language (e.g., oxy or M30s=oxycontin; carga= heroin; malilla=withdrawal, fetty=fentanyl). Challenges were categorized into 8 key areas: legal, financial, scheduling, transportation, ability to change drug use behaviors, communication with SSP staff, managing mood and substance use.
TS + FTIR + Flu and Hepatitis A Education
Naloxone and educational materials (i.e. pamphlets) on overdose prevention, videos (English or Spanish) on naloxone, flu and Hepatitis A education.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
1. Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
2. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
3. Be aged ≥18 years at time of recruitment
4. Must have used illicit opiates (e.g., heroin, fentanyl) and/or methamphetamine ≤1 week prior to recruitment date
5. Live in San Diego County with no plans to permanently move over the next 30 months
6. Have not previously used the CheckSD drug checking service
7. Enrolled into ongoing prospective cohort study La Frontera (the border) (existing or new participants)
Enrollment will be capped so that \<25% of the sample reports only using methamphetamine to ensure that the sample is comprised primarily of people who use opiates who are at greatest risk of OD. Recruitment will be done through targeted sampling at hotspots as well as homeless encampments, shelters and outreach through social media.
Exclusion Criteria
1. Not being able to provide a signed and dated informed consent form
2. Not willing to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
3. Currently enrolled in another randomized controlled trial
4. Not having used illicit opiates (e.g., heroin, fentanyl), methamphetamine ≤1 week prior to recruitment date
5. Having used CheckSD (i.e. drug testing with TS+FTIR)
6. Participated in the MI-CHANCE pilot
18 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego (HRCSD)
UNKNOWN
University of California, San Diego
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Steffanie Strathdee
Harold Simon Distinguished Professor, Co-director, Center for Innovative Phage Applications & Therapeutics (IPATH) Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health Department of Medicine, UC San Diego Health Sciences
Locations
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MI CHANCE - Park Blvd
San Diego, California, United States
Countries
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References
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Green TC, Park JN, Gilbert M, McKenzie M, Struth E, Lucas R, Clarke W, Sherman SG. An assessment of the limits of detection, sensitivity and specificity of three devices for public health-based drug checking of fentanyl in street-acquired samples. Int J Drug Policy. 2020 Mar;77:102661. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102661. Epub 2020 Jan 14.
McCrae K, Tobias S, Grant C, Lysyshyn M, Laing R, Wood E, Ti L. Assessing the limit of detection of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and immunoassay strips for fentanyl in a real-world setting. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2020 Jan;39(1):98-102. doi: 10.1111/dar.13004. Epub 2019 Nov 19.
Ti L, Tobias S, Lysyshyn M, Laing R, Nosova E, Choi J, Arredondo J, McCrae K, Tupper K, Wood E. Detecting fentanyl using point-of-care drug checking technologies: A validation study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Jul 1;212:108006. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108006. Epub 2020 May 12.
Tupper KW, McCrae K, Garber I, Lysyshyn M, Wood E. Initial results of a drug checking pilot program to detect fentanyl adulteration in a Canadian setting. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Sep 1;190:242-245. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.06.020. Epub 2018 Jul 24.
Carroll JJ, Mackin S, Schmidt C, McKenzie M, Green TC. The Bronze Age of drug checking: barriers and facilitators to implementing advanced drug checking amidst police violence and COVID-19. Harm Reduct J. 2022 Feb 4;19(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s12954-022-00590-z.
Wallace B, van Roode T, Pagan F, Phillips P, Wagner H, Calder S, Aasen J, Pauly B, Hore D. What is needed for implementing drug checking services in the context of the overdose crisis? A qualitative study to explore perspectives of potential service users. Harm Reduct J. 2020 May 12;17(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s12954-020-00373-4.
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Rosales R, Janssen T, Yermash J, Yap KR, Ball EL, Hartzler B, Garner BR, Becker SJ. Persons from racial and ethnic minority groups receiving medication for opioid use disorder experienced increased difficulty accessing harm reduction services during COVID-19. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2022 Jan;132:108648. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108648. Epub 2021 Oct 30.
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Bailey K, Strathdee SA, Bazzi AR, Stamos-Buesig T, Godvin M, Harvey-Vera A, Abramovitz D, Vera CF, Patterson TL, Davidson PJ, Borquez A. Motivational interviewing to increase drug checking and reduce overdose rates among people who use drugs: protocol for a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation trial of an adjunctive intervention. BMC Public Health. 2025 Sep 30;25(1):3228. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-24460-y.
Provided Documents
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Document Type: Informed Consent Form
Other Identifiers
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