Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021:6:e210002.
doi: 10.20900/jpbs.20210002. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Realize, Analyze, Engage (RAE): A Digital Tool to Support Recovery from Substance Use Disorder

Stephanie Carreiro  1 , Melissa Taylor  1 , Sloke Shrestha  2 , Megan Reinhardt  3 , Nicole Gilbertson  3 , Premananda Indic  2
Affiliations

Realize, Analyze, Engage (RAE): A Digital Tool to Support Recovery from Substance Use Disorder

Stephanie Carreiro et al. J Psychiatr Brain Sci. 2021.

Abstract

Background: Substance use disorders are a highly prevalent group of chronic diseases with devastating individual and public health consequences. Current treatment strategies suffer from high rates of relapse, or return to drug use, and novel solutions are desperately needed. Realize Analyze Engage (RAE) is a digital, mHealth intervention that focusses on real time, objective detection of high-risk events (stress and drug craving) to deploy just-in-time supportive interventions. The present study aims to (1) evaluate the accuracy and usability of the RAE system and (2) evaluate the impact of RAE on patient centered outcomes.

Methods: The first phase of the study will be an observational trial of N = 50 participants in outpatient treatment for SUD using the RAE system for 30 days. Accuracy of craving and stress detection algorithms will be evaluated, and usability of RAE will be explored via semi-structured interviews with participants and focus groups with SUD treatment clinicians. The second phase of the study will be a randomized controlled trial of RAE vs usual care to evaluate rates of return to use, retention in treatment, and quality of life.

Anticipated findings and future directions: The RAE platform is a potentially powerful tool to de-escalate stress and craving outside of the clinical milieu, and to connect with a support system needed most. RAE also aims to provide clinicians with actionable insight to understand patients' level of risk, and contextual clues for their triggers in order to provide more personalized recovery support.

Keywords: craving; digital diagnostics; digital health; digital therapeutics; mHealth; stress; substance use disorder; wearable.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Megan Reinhardt is the CEO of RAE Health and Nicole Gilbertson is the COO of RAE Health. They represent the small business partners in this small business innovation research award.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
RAE System Architecture.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Garmin Vivosmart 4.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
RAE Mobile App.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
RAE Clinical Portal Home Screen.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders 2020. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disorders. Accessed 2021 Feb 15.
    1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2019. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/cbhsq-reports/NSDUHNatio.... Accessed 2021 Feb 15.
    1. Back SE, Gros DF, McCauley JL, Flanagan JC, Cox E, Barth KS, et al. Laboratory-induced cue reactivity among individuals with prescription opioid dependence. Addict Behav. 2014;39(8):1217–23. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pool ER, Sander D. Vulnerability to relapse under stress: insights from affective neuroscience. Swiss Med Wkly. 2019;149:w20151. - PubMed
    1. Sinha R How does stress increase risk of drug abuse and relapse? Psychopharmacology. 2001;158(4):343–59. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources