Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Dec 3, 2024
Date Accepted: May 12, 2025
Digital psychosocial interventions tailored for people in opioid use disorder treatment: a scoping review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Sixty percent of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) leave treatment early. Psychosocial interventions can enhance treatment retention by addressing behavioral and mental health needs related to early treatment discontinuation, but engagement is key. If well-designed, digital platforms can increase the engagement, reach, and accessibility of psychosocial interventions.
Objective:
This scoping review aims to document and describe recent digital psychosocial interventions for patients in medication-based OUD (MOUD) treatment.
Methods:
Predefined search terms were used to search Ovid, CINAHL, and PubMed databases for peer-reviewed literature published in the last ten years. The database search resulted in 1381 relevant articles, and 16 of them remained after applying the inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they: 1) evaluated a digital intervention with behavioral, psychosocial, or counseling components for people with OUD; and 2) were published in English in peer-reviewed journals.
Results:
The 16 articles reviewed comprised six randomized controlled trials, six pilot studies, two qualitative studies, and two retrospective cohort studies. Smartphone applications (n=8) were the most prevalent intervention delivery method, with other studies using telemedicine (n=3), virtual reality (n=1), telephone calls (n=1), or text messaging (n=3) to deliver psychosocial interventions in either a synchronous (n=7) or asynchronous (n=9) manner. The digital interventions reviewed predominately delivered cognitive behavioral therapy education and increased contact with providers.
Conclusions:
Participants in the studies reviewed indicated a preference for digital, flexible, patient-centered psychosocial interventions that emphasized improved patient-provider relationships. Further studies are needed to establish an evidence base for digital psychosocial intervention efficacy through fully-powered randomized controlled trials to reduce early termination of OUD treatment.
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