The Using Of Smart Phone Applications In Methadone Maintenance Treatment Clinics And Community Rehabilitation

Objective: To explore the role of smart phone applications in methadone clinics and community rehabilitation,we examined the concordance of smart phone applications EMA to previously validated self-report and biological urine methods and explored the factors which may influence the misreporting and whether the APP can reduce the relapsing behaviors and improve mental health.Our study can provide evidence for future use.Methods: We combined qualitative study with quantitative study.In the qualitative study,sixteen worker and heroin or amphetamine-type stimulates(ATS)dependents recruited from the Shanghai methadone maintenance treatment institutions or community rehabilitation agencies were conducted two focus group interviews.We collected and analyzed the data which can prepare for the quantitative study.In the quantitative study,75 heroin or ATS dependents recruited from the Shanghai methadone maintenance treatment institutions or community rehabilitation agencies were randomly assigned to experimental group(50)and control group(25)according to the proportion of 2:1.Both of them were required to install the App and finish daily different task,weekly urine test and confidence of abstinence assessment for 4 weeks.Demographic characteristic,concordance of 3 methods,urine test results,and confidence of abstinence score were compared between two groups.We also investigated the mental health status of all patients and the acceptance of the App.Results:(1)The percent agreement between EMA and self-report methods was 85.8%,while the percent agreement between EMA and urine methods was 71.5% on the last week.(2)Working(OR=0.167),young(OR=1.137)may be more prone to appear misreporting behaviors.(3)There was no significant difference in urine test results between two groups.Compare to the baseline,the urine negative rate increased significantly on the third week in experimental group.While,in the control group,the urine negative rate increased on the last week.(4)Regarding to the confidence,the score of experimental group was significant higher than control group on the last week assessment.Compare to the baseline,the score of abstinence confidence increased in experimental group,while there is no significant difference between baseline and every week in control group.(5)Both of two groups have no improvement in mental health status,but emotion and self-esteem have improvement tendency.(6)Our smart phone APP has a good acceptability among substance abuse populations.Conclusions: Our study demonstrates a good agreement of EMA between self-report and biological methods in capturing illicit drug use.Having work and younger substance users have more prone to appear misreporting behaviors.Smart phone applications could be used in the field of drug abuse treatment and help patients to prevent relapse.