Using a betting game to predict opioid relapse

In America’s opioid epidemic, even those who are able to access treatment are often at a high risk for relapsing. To try to predict when those episodes might occur, New York University psychiatrists turned to a game that involved betting, with the idea that the willingness to take risks might correlate with a return to opioid use. Sure enough, the results they published in a new study showed that among 70 people receiving treatment for opioid use disorder in a community-based center, their willingness to make risky bets in the game was associated with increased odds of relapse. Though these preliminary results were observed in only a small group of patients, the researchers are now hoping to turn this game into an app.