Mobile Application for Prescription Drug-Abuse Education (MAPDE)

The aims of this pilot study are: (1) to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile application to educate military members about the risks of prescription drug misuse; (2) to determine if there is evidence that the mobile application plus treatment as usual reduces the risk of prescription drug misuse and shows differences in related measures compared to treatment as usual among military medical clinic patients currently taking prescription medication; and (3) if evidence of reduced risk is found, to estimate effect sizes for a future effectiveness trial. The pilot study will use a randomized controlled design with two groups. The control group will be provided with treatment as usual (TAU), and the experimental group will be provided with the prescription drug-abuse educational smartphone application in addition to treatment as usual (app + TAU). Self-reported measures of risk of misuse and related attitudes and knowledge will be administered to all participants at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months. The mobile app is a brief intervention designed to help military members to assess their risk for medication misuse and provide individualized feedback on risk level with recommendations for reducing risk. The app also contains other features, including sections in which to store information on current medications and look up drug interactions and provides resources for help.