A two-phased screening paradigm for evaluating candidate medications for cocaine cessation or relapse prevention: modafinil, levodopa-carbidopa, naltrexone.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cocaine pharmacotherapy trials are often confounded by considerable variability in baseline cocaine-use levels, obscuring possible medication efficacy. Testing the feasibility of using a prerandomization, abstinence-induction protocol, we screened three candidate medications to explore treatment response in patients who did, or did not, achieve abstinence during an extended baseline phase.

Method

Eligible treatment-seeking, cocaine-dependent subjects entered a 4-week baseline period (Phase I) with high-value abstinence contingent vouchers and two motivational interviewing sessions, followed by a 12-week medication trial (Phase II) with random assignment stratified on Phase I abstinence status to (1) modafinil (400mg/d), (2) levodopa/carbidopa (800/200mg/d), (3) na

SUBMITTER: Schmitz JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3944935 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature