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A Smartphone Based Intervention for the Prevention of Relapse in Alcohol Dependence

NCT03952429 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 600

Last updated 2026-04-30

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The rate of relapse following an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program has been around 50% for a number of years. Offered treatments mainly focus on conscious and controllable aspects of behaviour, but research has found that much of the craving in addiction is guided by automatic processes, which are for a large part unconscious and poorly controlled by the individual. One way to influence these automatic processes is by applying cognitive bias modification, a cognitive-behavioural intervention that can be applied by a computer application. In alcohol addition, a common cognitive bias is the Alcohol-Approach bias. The Anti-Alcohol Training is a form of cognitive bias modification that was developed to reduce this approach bias and it has been shown to reduce the rates of relapse by 4-8%. A drawback of the training is that patients do not continue this at home after discharge. One way to increase accessibility is to offer the training in an app-game form.

In this study the investigators have developed a smartphone based training app that allows patients to more easily use the Anti-Alcohol training at home after discharge. The study aims to assess whether use of the app further reduces the alcohol bias and whether it can reduce yearly relapse rates.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Anti Alcohol App with Active Cognitive Bias

The active version includes an active form of cognitive bias modification, i.e. the user has to avoid alcohol stimuli 90% of the time, while they approach soft drinks 90% of the time.

BEHAVIORAL

Inactive Cognitive Bias Modification

The control version includes an placebo form of cognitive bias modification, i.e. the users avoid and approach alcohol and softdrink stimuli for an equal number of trials.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Prof Johannes Lindemeyer · Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-05-23
Primary Completion
2023-10-27
Completion
2023-10-27

Countries

  • Germany

Study Locations

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Diseases
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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03952429 on ClinicalTrials.gov