Preventing Premature Death in Patients With Serious Opioid-related Infection

We will recruit 30 SORI inpatients ages 18-plus admitted to the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). We will administer a battery of validated assessments of substance use, overdose history and risk, opioid-related infection, and suicidal behavior at baseline and approximately 2- and 4-week follow-ups. We will assess both forms of overdose (unintentional, intentional - i.e., suicidal behavior) because each is common in intravenous drug users and they require systematic assessment to disentangle. All recruited individuals will receive one-to-three MI sessions as they begin the MAT that is part of standard hospital care. Patients will be offered computer-based CBT, which they will complete on the unit at their convenience. The CBT program records duration of use of the treatment modules, enabling us to track patients' level of CBT treatment participation. Patient-completed intervention feedback forms and treatment completion will be examined after 15 subjects have participated. Based on this feedback, we will pilot an adapted (MI plus CBT) treatment manual, obtaining additional feedback on acceptability. We will assess psychopathy, a constellation of stable traits and potentially important moderator of treatment effects, at baseline. We will assess potential mediators (i.e., motivation to change, self-regulation) using validated measures at baseline and at approximately 2- and 4-weeks post-discharge.

Inclusion criteria

• Age 18 or older
• Willing to provide contact information (e.g., email, phone, address)
• Presence of SORI, including endocarditis, osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, epidural abscess, or serious bacteremia
• Hospital length of stay estimated at > 3 weeks
• Admitted to URMC and seen by the Toxicology Consult Team. Providers will be informed of inclusion/exclusion requirements so that they can make an informed decision about whether a patient may be approached.

Exclusion criteria

• Non-English speaking
• Unwilling to provide informed consent; unable to provide informed consent or participate in study procedures due to lack of comprehension, medical barriers (e.g., intubated), or behavioral (e.g., violence) or severe psychiatric problems (e.g., florid psychosis). Capacity to provide informed consent will be determined by their treatment team or other provider consult team as appropriate. This serves a dual function of both basing consent capacity on the most accurate and current medical information, as well as keeping their treatment team informed of any research involvement of their patient.
• Note that patients may be ineligible initially but become eligible due to stabilization during hospitalization, at which point we would then proceed as usual with the identification and recruitment process. We will seek to recruit every SORI admission who meets eligibility criteria within the recruitment timeframe.