RESPECT-PLUS: Services for Infants With Prenatal Opiate Exposure

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Opioid Use Disorder, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Child Development, Child Abuse, Child Neglect

In brief

The impact of parental opioid use disorder and other substance use exposure on child welfare and the healthcare system is undeniable. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of delivering mothers using or dependent on opiates rose nearly five-fold, and it is estimated that 48-94% of children exposed to opioids in utero will be diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a set of behavioral and physiological complications resulting from abrupt substance withdrawal at birth. Opioid abuse is usually coupled with use of other substances, and research has demonstrated that children born to parents with substance use disorders are three to four times more likely to suffer abuse or neglect. Currently, the standard of care for pregnant women who are being treated for opiate dependence at Boston Medical Center (BMC) is to receive all their prenatal care in the RESPECT Clinic, an innovative program of the BMC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology designed to treat addiction during the prenatal and early postnatal period. Once the child is born, BMC staff files a report of suspected child abuse and neglect in accordance with the Massachusetts General Laws section 51A. The state Department of Children and Families makes a determination regarding the disposition of these families. Medically, most of these children are treated in-patient at BMC for NAS and then discharged to follow-up with routine pediatric primary care. Currently, approximately 85% of infants born exposed to opioids go home with their mothers, and the remainder receive substitute care, either with other family members or via foster care. This investigation is a randomized controlled trial of RESPECT-Plus, a continuum of promising and evidence-based practices designed to strengthen family protective factors and improve health permanency and well-being outcomes for children born to mothers in treatment for opioid use disorder. Anticipated outcomes of the intervention include fewer reports of supported child abuse or neglect filings in the child's first year of life, fewer days in out-of-home placement; fewer terminations of parental rights in the child's first year of life; and improvements in family functions overall (e.g. improved access to basic needs/social determinants of health, improved parental resilience, and decreased maternal depression).

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02334111

Run by

Boston Medical Center

People needed

200

Starts

2013-07-01

Expected to finish

2016-09-01

Last updated by the study team

2017-01-16

Who can join

Age: any, up to 0. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Opiate-dependent pregnant women receiving opiate-replacement therapy (methadone or buprenorphine) treatment by licensed provider (mother)
• Receives prenatal and obstetric care through Boston Medical Center's RESPECT clinic (mother)
• Due date within 3 months at time of enrollment (Estimated Gestation Age >27 weeks) (mother)
• 18 years and older (mother)
• Singleton pregnancy (infant)
• Intends to deliver at Boston Medical Center (mother)
• Intends to remain in the Boston area after birth of child (mother)
• Mother able to provide informed consent (not excluded by RESPECT staff)
• No serious medical illness in infant such as sepsis, asphyxia, seizures, or respiratory failure (infant)
• No major congenital abnormalities in infant including genetic syndromes (infant)
• Gestational age at birth 36 weeks or greater defined by obstetrical estimate (infant)
• Born at Boston Medical Center (infant)
• Not incarcerated at the time of enrollment (mother)

You may not qualify if…

• Plans to voluntarily relinquish parental rights at birth
• Does not speak English.
• Estimated gestational age less than 36 weeks
• Infant positive for serious congenital anomaly or developmental disability

Where it is running

• Boston Medical Center — Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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