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Low rates of treatment for opioid use disorder remain over last decade

Among individuals with opioid use disorder, there was no increase in the rate of medication-assisted treatment from 2004 to 2013, despite the approval of buprenorphine, according to recently published data.

Brenda Saloner, PhD, department of health policy and management, and Shankar Karthikeyan, MPP, Institute for Health and Social Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, analyzed data from the 2004-2013 rounds of the National Survey of Drug Use and Health to assess whether the approval of buprenorphine impacted rates of medication-assisted treatment for substance abuse disorders. Overall, 6,770 individuals with opioid use disorder were included in the analysis.

In an adjusted analysis, 18.8% of individuals surveyed from 2004 to 2008 were receiving treatment, compared with 19.7% from 2009 to 2013.

A significant increase was seen in the number of settings visited for treatment, from 2.8 in 2004-2008 to 3.3 in 2009-2013.

Rates of inpatient treatment use increased from 37.5% in 2004-2008, to 51.9% in 2009-2013. Increases were also seen in office-based treatment, from 35.1% in 2004-2008 to 34.8% in 2009-2013.

“Individuals in treatment received care in more settings, with the greatest increases in inpatient treatment and at physician’s offices. Although physician’s offices may provide access to buprenorphine, medication-assisted treatments are often unavailable in inpatient settings, which could hinder patient recovery,” Saloner and Karthikeyan concluded.

Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.