TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ngo, Quyen M
AU  - Braughton, Jacqueline E
AU  - Gliske, Kate
AU  - Waller, Lance A
AU  - Sitar, Siara
AU  - Kretman, Danielle N
AU  - Cooper, Hannah L F
AU  - Welsh, Justine W
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/4/4
TI  - In-Person Versus Telehealth Setting for the Delivery of Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Ecologically Valid Comparison Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e34408
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
KW  - telehealth
KW  - substance use treatment
KW  - patient outcomes
AB  - Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly transformed substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in the United States, with many web-based treatment services being used for this purpose. However, little is known about the long-term treatment effectiveness of SUD interventions delivered through digital technologies compared with in-person treatment, and even less is known about how patients, clinicians, and clinical characteristics may predict treatment outcomes. Objective: This study aims to analyze baseline differences in patient demographics and clinical characteristics across traditional and telehealth settings in a sample of participants (N=3642) who received intensive outpatient program (IOP) substance use treatment from January 2020 to March 2021. Methods: The virtual IOP (VIOP) study is a prospective longitudinal cohort design that follows adult (aged ≥18 years) patients who were discharged from IOP care for alcohol and substance use–related treatment at a large national SUD treatment provider between January 2020 and March 2021. Data were collected at baseline and up to 1 year after discharge from both in-person and VIOP services through phone- and web-based surveys to assess recent substance use and general functioning across several domains. Results: Initial baseline descriptive data were collected on patient demographics and clinical inventories. No differences in IOP setting were detected by race (χ22=0.1; P=.96), ethnicity (χ22=0.8; P=.66), employment status (χ22=2.5; P=.29), education level (χ24=7.9; P=.10), or whether participants presented with multiple SUDs (χ28=11.4; P=.18). Significant differences emerged for biological sex (χ22=8.5; P=.05), age (χ26=26.8; P<.001), marital status (χ24=20.5; P<.001), length of stay (F2,3639=148.67; P<.001), and discharge against staff advice (χ22=10.6; P<.01). More differences emerged by developmental stage, with emerging adults more likely to be women (χ23=40.5; P<.001), non-White (χ23=15.8; P<.001), have multiple SUDs (χ23=453.6; P<.001), have longer lengths of stay (F3,3638=13.51; P<.001), and more likely to be discharged against staff advice (χ23=13.3; P<.01). Conclusions: The findings aim to deepen our understanding of SUD treatment efficacy across traditional and telehealth settings and its associated correlates and predictors of patient-centered outcomes. The results of this study will inform the effective development of data-driven benchmarks and protocols for routine outcome data practices in treatment settings. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2022/4/e34408
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/34408
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35377318
DO  - 10.2196/34408
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/34408
ER  -