An observational study in Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), sponsored by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Enrolling by invitation at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 99 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) · Observational
Background:
A Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) is a tool that helps researchers track how much of a substance a person uses. Different versions of the tool are used to track the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis. But there is no TLFB to track a person s use of nonmedical opioids. (These are opioids not obtained from a medical source; they may also be called "street" opioids.) Researchers are creating an Opioid TLFB (OpiTLFB) that asks better questions and records more useful answers to identify what kinds of nonmedical opioids people are using.
Objective:
To test a new research tool to track a person's use of nonmedical opioids.
Eligibility:
People aged 18 years or older who currently use opioids nonmedically at least once a week.
Design:
Participants will have 1 study visit at a clinic in Baltimore, Maryland. The visit will take 1 to 4 hours.
Participants will sit at a computer with a researcher and fill out a calendar. They will record their use of opioids each day for the past 30 days. They will be asked what the drugs were called and what they looked like. This task might take 30 minutes.
Participants will be interviewed. The researcher will ask about their experiences getting opioids from friends, dealers, or other sources; how the experience of getting opioids has changed over time; and about any changes they have noticed across different areas of Baltimore. Researchers will ask how the OpiTLFB could be easier to fill out and how it could provide more useful information. This task might take 30 minutes.
Participants will provide a urine sample.
Study Description:
Observational, on-site study for the purpose of instrument development. Currently used assessments of recent opioid use do not reflect the current market for street opioids. This protocol will use semistructured interviews (supplemented with results from comprehensive toxicology of approximately 1,200 analytes in urine) to develop a workable typology of the current street-opioid market in the Baltimore region, and a TLFB calendar that asks germane questions and offers usable response options for products and amounts.
Objectives:
Endpoints:
2,238 studies on the registry are indexed under Substance-Related Disorders; 409 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 251 across 299 observational studies indexed under Substance-Related Disorders.
Browse Substance-Related Disorders studies →National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead sponsor of 393 studies on the registry; 19 are open to participants now.
Of its 14 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (43%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
We may enroll participants in this protocol from the pool that screens for other protocols at the NIDA IRP. We may also advertise for this protocol directly. If we decide to launch an ad campaign for this specific protocol, we will primarily recruit in the Baltimore metro area. We may also recontact previous participants from NIDA IRP studies who have expressed interest in participating in future NIDA studies and agreed to such recontact. Additionally, study team members attend events hosted by the Office of the Clinical Director to engage with local community partners. This includes clinics, treatment facilities, medical facilities, advocacy groups, and local businesses. We conduct outreach at community events/locations such as health expos, festivals, and other local venues. During these events, we display and offer approved recruitment materials.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
To be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet the following criteria:
Able to understand and communicate in written and spoken English.
Justification: Initial development of the OpiTLFB requires strong, unmediated communication between the study team and the participants. Further development and modification for non-English-speaking interviewees is best undertaken as a separate project when the OpiTLFB is ready for use.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
1. Any medical, psychiatric, or social conditions that the investigators believe would make participation in this protocol not in the best interest of the participant.
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Current use of an opioid obtained in a nonmedical context (i.e., not from a pharmacy or in a healthcare setting), at least weekly
At least three consecutive respondents (after an initial minimum of 25 respondents) for whom the OpiTLFB needs no further modification to capture their pattern of opioid use.
Existing TLFB measures assess opioid use in terms that no longer match what PWUOs can actually obtain. This hampers both baseline characterization and quantification of opioid-use changes in study participants.
Time frame: 6-24 months
Associations between OpiTLFB indices (name, physical appearance, and effects of product) and urine-toxicology results.
This will help ensure that our typology of street opioids reflects real and consistent differences in product composition.
Time frame: 6-24 months
Start is estimated for Nov 2026; primary completion for May 2027, 6 months later.
Of 122 non-industry observational studies under Substance-Related Disorders, half reached primary completion within 36 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 18 and three quarters within 56. This study's planned 6 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 133 studies reached it within 36 months; a quarter within 18 and three quarters within 56.
Start moved 32 times since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026: Sep 2026 → Nov 2026, last on Nov 10, 2026.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
No contact was published for this record. The registry link below has the sponsor’s details.
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National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) →