title: The CHANGE Study: Methods and Sample Description for a Cross-Sectional Study of Heroin Cessation in New York City.
abstract: The CHANGE (Cessation of Heroin: A Neighborhood Grounded Exploration) Study aimed to understand factors associated with the initiation and maintenance of sustained heroin cessation from the perspective of users themselves and specifically set out to document the correlates of natural recovery. The CHANGE Study was a case-control study conducted in New York City from 2009 to 2011. Cases were former heroin users, abstinent for 1-5 years in the past 5 years. Controls used heroin at least weekly during the past 5 years and were (1) continuous heroin users without a quit attempt of ≥2 weeks' duration or (2) relapsed heroin users who were currently using and had a quit attempt of ≥2 weeks' duration during the past 5 years. Recruitment and data collection methods are described along with limitations and a brief description of the study sample. In contrast to many studies of drug use and cessation, the CHANGE Study was designed to model success (i.e., initiation and maintenance of heroin cessation) and not failure.
authors.affiliation: College of Global Public Health, New York University, 41 East 11th Street, Room 730, New York, NY, 10003, USA. dco2@nyu.edu.|Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, New York University College of Nursing, New York, NY, USA. dco2@nyu.edu.|Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY, USA. dco2@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Danielle C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ompad
authors.affiliation: Center for Evaluation and Applied Research, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ebele O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Benjamin
authors.affiliation: Center for Evaluation and Applied Research, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, New York University College of Nursing, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Population Health, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Palamar
authors.affiliation: Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galea
authors.affiliation: Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jiayu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vlahov
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D055502:Secondary Prevention / Q000379:methods; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers
keywords: Case-control study; Cessation; Heroin; Heroin career; Opiates; Relapse