3 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
In the LASSO study, the investigators will identify 100 stimulant overdose decedents (divided among stimulant-only, and stimulant with fentanyl), conduct informant interviews (including scales and qualitative data), and gather data from the postmortem investigation (e.g., vital records, toxicology, autopsy, case narrative, death scene photographs) and medical record abstraction. Subsequently, study staff will conduct qualitative interviews with 40-60 living people who use stimulants (aiming for half methamphetamine, half cocaine) to explore elements of resilience and risk reduction strategies. This study aims to contribute to the eventual design of interventions to reduce stimulant overdose mortality.
The goal of this clinical trial is to see if an injectable medicine called naltrexone can prevent fentanyl overdose deaths in people who use other drugs (cocaine, methamphetamine). The main questions it aims to answer are: What are the challenges for implementing naltrexone as an overdose prevention strategy? Are injections of naltrexone effective for opioid overdose prevention among people who use stimulants? How often are people who use stimulants and do not intentionally use opioids unintentionally exposed to opioids? Researchers will compare participants to receive the study medication to the usual care group to see if one group experiences fewer opioid overdose events than the other. Participants will be randomized to either receive a monthly injection of naltrexone over six months, or receive usual care. Usual care includes harm reduction supplies. Laboratory procedures will include the collection of urine, blood, and hair samples for various safety and outcome measure testing.
This study has an experimental design and will examine the difference in pre-test and post-test data on the Self-Forgiveness Dual Process Scale (SFDPS) (Griffin, Worthington, Davis, Hook, \& Maguen, 2018) and the Substance Abuse Self-Stigma Scale (SASSS) (Luoma et al., 2013). Data will be collected from two groups of participants receiving counseling at the short-term rehabilitation facility located at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's (UPMC). Individuals who agree to participate in the study will be randomly assigned to either the experimental group (EG) or the control group (CG). Data collected will include pre-test SFDPS and SASSS scores for the EG and the CG (collected within 24-hours of admission), and post-test SFDPS and SASSS scores for the EG and CG (collected after 14 days). ANCOVA will be used to analyze the pre-test and post-test data recorded from participants' scores.