Patient perspectives on current and potential therapies and clinical trial approaches for cocaine use disorder.

Background: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is characterized by the continued use of cocaine despite serious impacts on life. This study focused on understanding the perspective of individuals with current CUD, individuals in CUD remission, and their supporters regarding current therapies, future therapies, and views on clinical trials for CUD.
Methods: The online bulletin board (OBB) is a qualitative tool where participants engage in an interactive discussion on a virtual forum. Following completion of a screening questionnaire to determine eligibility, individuals in CUD remission and their supporters logged in to the OBB and responded to questions posed by the moderator. Individuals with current CUD participated in a one-time virtual focus group.
Results: All individuals with current CUD and 94% of those in CUD remission reported a diagnosis consistent with CUD or substance use disorder during screening. Individuals with current CUD and their supporters were recruited from the United States (US). Individuals in CUD remission were recruited from five countries, including the US. Individuals with current CUD reported hesitation about seeking treatment due to stigma, a lack of privacy, and being labeled as a drug seeker; barriers to therapy included time, cost, and a lack of privacy. Participants wanted a safe therapy to stop cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Seven clinical trial outcomes, including long-term abstinence and craving control, were suggested based on collected insights.
Conclusion: This study can help inform the design of clinical trials and emphasize the need for effective, safe, and accessible therapies. Recruiting participants will require significant trust building.
Competing Interests: BG-M was employed by Novartis Pharma AG at the time of this study. He is now employed by McGill University. DL, KW, SD, PB, VSM, and SM are employed by Novartis. BK is a paid consultant to CBT4CBT, LLC, which provides a digital CBT program to qualified clinical providers and organizations on a commercial basis. This conflict is managed by Yale University. The authors declare that this study received funding from Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation (Global Health Development Unit, GDD). The funder had the following involvement with the study: collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
(Copyright © 2024 Maahs, Leclair, Gomez-Mancilla, Kiluk, Muthusamy, Banerjee, Dasgupta and Waye.)