Feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of internet-mediated 'relapse prevention therapy' for patients with alcohol use disorder: A pilot study.

Introduction: To assess the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of synchronous internet-mediated relapse prevention therapy (i-RPT) in alcohol use disorder.

Methods: This was a pilot, quasi-experimental study. Thirty-two adult men with alcohol use disorder were recruited through purposive sampling from an outpatient setting. We assessed patterns of drinking, craving, motivation and coping. Patients received five twice-weekly sessions of i-RPT. They were reassessed 12 weeks post-intervention (CTRI Trial REF/2020/09/036392).

Results: Thirty-two (48%) of the 67 patients fulfilled the eligibility criteria and all consented to the study. All participants completed at least two sessions and 23 (71.9%) completed all five sessions. Two-thirds of participants reported high satisfaction in the Telehealth Satisfaction Questionnaire. We observed modest intervention effects on days of abstinence in both per-protocol (P <0.001; r = 0.6) and worst-case (P <0.001, r = 0.5) analyses. There were also reductions in the amount of alcohol use, frequency of drinking and heavy drinking, craving and maladaptive coping behaviours. Per-protocol analysis revealed a positive post-intervention change in the motivational level to change alcohol use.

Conclusion: iRPT appears to be feasible, acceptable and possibly effective in alcohol use disorder.