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
. 2024 Sep 5;19(1):64.
doi: 10.1186/s13722-024-00493-3.

Integrated telehealth intervention to reduce chronic pain and unhealthy drinking among people living with HIV: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Tibor P Palfai  1 , Lauren B Bernier  2 , Maya Pl Kratzer  2 , Kara M Magane  3 , Sarah Fielman  3 , John D Otis  2 , Timothy C Heeren  4 , Michael R Winter  4 , Michael D Stein  5
Affiliations

Integrated telehealth intervention to reduce chronic pain and unhealthy drinking among people living with HIV: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Tibor P Palfai et al. Addict Sci Clin Pract. .

Abstract

Background: Unhealthy alcohol use represents a significant risk for morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV (PLWH), in part through its impact on HIV management. Chronic pain, a common comorbidity, exacerbates suboptimal engagement in the HIV care continuum and has reciprocal detrimental effects on alcohol outcomes. There are no integrated, accessible approaches that address these comorbid conditions among PLWH to date. This paper describes a research study protocol of an integrated telehealth intervention to reduce unhealthy drinking and chronic pain among PLWH (Motivational and Cognitive-Behavioral Management for Alcohol and Pain [INTV]).

Methods: Two-hundred and fifty PLWH with unhealthy drinking and chronic pain will be recruited nationally via online advertisement. Informed consent and baseline assessments occur remotely, followed by 15 days of ecological momentary assessment to assess alcohol use, chronic pain, functioning, and mechanisms of behavior change. Next, participants will be randomized to either the INTV or Control (CTL) condition. Individuals in both conditions will meet with a health counselor through videoconferencing following randomization, and those in the INTV condition will receive 6 additional sessions. At 3- and 6-months post-baseline, participants will complete outcome assessments. It is hypothesized that the INTV condition will result in reduced unhealthy alcohol use and pain ratings compared to the CTL condition.

Conclusion: This protocol paper describes a randomized controlled trial which tests the efficacy of a novel, integrated telehealth approach to reduce unhealthy alcohol use and chronic pain for PLWH, two common comorbid conditions that influence the HIV treatment cascade.

Gov identifier: NCT05503173.

Keywords: Alcohol; Chronic pain; Ecological momentary assessment; HIV; Telehealth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flow diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Williams EC, Joo YS, Lipira L, Glass JE. Psychosocial stressors and alcohol use, severity, and treatment receipt across human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status in a nationally representative sample of US residents. Subst Abus. 2017;38(3):269–77. 10.1080/08897077.2016.1268238 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Satre DD, Levine-Hall T, Sterling SA, Young-Wolff KC, Lam JO, Alexeeff S, et al. The relationship of smoking and unhealthy alcohol use to the HIV care continuum among people with HIV in an integrated health care system. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021;219:108481. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108481 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lesko CR, Gnang JS, Fojo AT, Hutton HE, McCaul ME, Delaney JA, et al. Alcohol use and the longitudinal HIV care continuum for people with HIV who enrolled in care between 2011 and 2019. Ann Epidemiol. 2023;85:6–12. 10.1016/j.annepidem.2023.07.002 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saitz R. Unhealthy Alcohol Use. N Engl J Med. 2005;352(6):596–607. 10.1056/NEJMcp042262 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chander G, Lau B, Moore RD. Hazardous alcohol use: a risk factor for non-adherence and lack of suppression in HIV infection. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2006;43(4):411–7. 10.1097/01.qai.0000243121.44659.a4 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data