AA on Drug Abusers by Nursing Students

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Drug Abuse
• Interventions: Other: Control group; Other: AA group

• Registration Number: NCT05877742
• Lead Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Brief Summary

Drug abuse is a serious public health issue. Despite the serious consequences of drug abuse, there are around 2000 new cases reported by drug abusers each year. There is growing evidence of the use of auricular acupressure (AA), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment modality, in reducing withdrawal symptoms among drug abusers. This study aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of training nursing students to deliver brief education on AA on drug abusers.

Detailed Description

A 2-arm feasibility cluster RCT will be conducted in the 80 drug abusers from 7 substance abuse clinics in Hong Kong Hospital Authority following the CONSORT statement. The intervention group will receive AA intervention individually from trained nursing students. The control group will individually receive a 5-minute seminar delivered by a research assistant.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-03-20
• Study First Submitted: 2023-05-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-05-25
• Study First Posted: 2023-05-26
• Status Verified: 2024-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-16
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-20
• Primary Completion: 2025-06-20
• Study Completion: 2025-06-20

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 80

Inclusion Criteria

• Aged 18 or above
• Have reported to abuse drugs within the past 30 days
• Can communicate in Cantonese and read Chinese

Exclusion Criteria

• Unstable mental conditions that are not suitable for the intervention
• Receiving acupuncture or acupressure treatment currently or in the previous 30 days

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Control group	Control group	Routine seminar for drug abusers.
AA group	AA group	AA for drug abusers.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Screening rate	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated as the number of abusers screened at participated clinics divided by number of abusers at participated clinics during the recruitment period.
Randomization rate	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated by dividing the number of abusers who are randomized into intervention and control groups by those who provide consent.
Attendance rate	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated by dividing the number of abusers who complete the intervention by those who are randomized.
Complete rate	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated by dividing the number of abusers who returned questionnaires by the number of questionnaires distributed. This will be calculated by groups at baseline and each follow-up.
Eligibility rate	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated by dividing the number of abusers who are eligible by the number who are screened.
Consent rate	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated by dividing the number of abusers who consent to join the study by the number who are eligible.
Retention rate	at the 6-month follow-up	: calculated by dividing the number of abusers who remain in the study by those who are randomized. Retention rates for the intervention and control groups will be calculated at each follow-up.
Adherence to intervention protocol	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated by dividing the number of abusers who follow the intervention protocol by those who are randomized.
Adverse events	at the 6-month follow-up	defined as unfavorable and unintended events that are not present at baseline, or appear to have worsened during the study.
Missing data	at the 6-month follow-up	calculated as the percentage of missing values in the dataset. Unknown or blank values will be considered missing values.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Anxiety	at the 6-month follow-up	Generalized anxiety disorder-7 will be used to measure the severity of self-reported anxiety.
Self-reported abstinence	at the 6-month follow-up	Self-reported drug abstinence at last 30 days.
Abstinence with urine testing	at the 6-month follow-up	. Those who report no drug abuse within the past 30 days at the 6-month follow-up will be further invited for urine testing.
Self-reported levels of craving	at the 6-month follow-up	The Chinese version of the 3-item craving scale will be used to measure abusers' self-reported levels of craving.
Quality of life measures by short-Form Six-Dimension	at the 6-month follow-up	Short-Form Six-Dimension will be used to assess abusers' quality of life.It contains six dimensions of health. The Chinese version is well validated in Hong Kong.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Katherine Lam; 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, Hong Kong