Trial reportJournal of substance use and addiction treatment2023
Pilot randomized controlled trial of a hospital-based substance use treatment and recovery team (START) to improve initiation of medication for alcohol or opioid use disorder and linkage to follow-up care.
Trial report in Journal of substance use and addiction treatment, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk and protective factors for relapse after residential substance use treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Cost-Effectiveness of the START Hospital Addiction Consultation Service for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Hospital Addiction Consultation Service and Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: The START Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2025Trial
- Contextual barriers and enablers to establishing an addiction-focused consultation team for hospitalized adults with opioid use disorder.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Trial
- Implementation and sustainability of hospital-based addiction consultation services.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- Outcomes associated with an inpatient addiction consult service: Systematic review and meta-analysis.SAGE open medicine · 2026Review
- Implementation and Sustainability of Hospital-based Addiction Consultation Services.Research square · 2025Article
- Initiating Medications During Hospitalization and Strategies for Ensuring Linkage at Discharge for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder: A Scoping Review.American journal of medicine open · 2025Review
- A scoping review of interventions addressing social determinants of health and their influence on opioid use disorder outcomes.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Factors associated with mortality following hospitalization among veterans with opioid use disorder.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Cross sectional analysis of an addiction consultation service, substance co-use patterns, and receipt of medications for opioid use disorder during hospitalization.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWe conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) to explore whether a hospital inpatient addiction consult team (Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Team [START]) based on collaborative care was feasible, acceptable to patients, and whether it could improve uptake of medication in the hospital and linkage to care after discharge, as well as reduce substance use and hospital readmission. The START consisted of an addiction medicine specialist and care manager who implemented a motivational and discharge planning intervention.
methodsWe randomized inpatients age ≥ 18 with a probable alcohol or opioid use disorder to receive START or usual care. We assessed feasibility and acceptability of START and the RCT, and we conducted an intent-to-treat analysis on data from the electronic medical record and patient interviews at baseline and 1-month postdischarge. The study compared RCT outcomes (medication for alcohol or opioid use disorder, linkage to follow-up care after discharge, substance use, hospital readmission) between arms by fitting logistic and linear regression models.
findingsOf 38 START patients, 97 % met with the addiction medicine specialist and care manager; 89 % received ≥8 of 10 intervention components. All patients receiving START found it to be somewhat or very acceptable. START patients had higher odds of initiating medication during the inpatient stay (OR 6.26, 95 % CI = 2.38-16.48, p < .001) and being linked to follow-up care (OR 5.76, 95 % CI = 1.86-17.86, p < .01) compared to usual care patients (N = 50). The study found no significant differences between groups in drinking or opioid use; patients in both groups reported using fewer substances at the 1-month follow-up.
conclusionsPilot data suggest START and RCT implementation are feasible and acceptable and that START may facilitate medication initiation and linkage to follow-up for inpatients with an alcohol or opioid use disorder. A larger trial should assess effectiveness, covariates, and moderators of intervention effects.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.