Researchers awarded for study on ED-initiated opioid dependence treatment

The Butler Center for Research at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation recently awarded the Dan Anderson Research Award to two researchers from Yale School of Medicine for their study assessing ED-initiated buprenorphine/naloxone treatment for opioid dependence.

Gail D’Onforio, MD, of the department of emergency medicine at Yale School of Medicine, and David Fiellin, MD, of the department of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine, will receive the award and a $2,000 honorarium from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

Gail D'Onforio

The study, published in JAMA in 2015, was a randomized clinical trial among 329 individuals with opioid dependence admitted to an urban teaching hospital ED between 2009 and 2013. Study participants were randomly assigned to a brief substance abuse screening and referral to treatment, a brief intervention and referral to treatment, or a brief intervention, referral to treatment and buprenorphine. In the third condition, participants with moderate-to-severe opioid withdrawal received buprenorphine in the ED and all participants in the condition received office-based buprenorphine following the ED visit.

“Patients with opioid dependence are at increased risk of adverse health consequences and often seek medical care in EDs,” D'Onofrio said in a press release. “The introduction of buprenorphine/naloxone may provide ED physicians the opportunity to initiate effective medication treatment in conjunction with brief intervention and referral.”

Analysis indicated participants who received buprenorphine were more likely to engage in formal addiction treatment within 30 days of ED visits.

Further, participants who received buprenorphine decreased their weekly opioid use from 5.4 days per week to 0.9 days per week, a significantly larger decrease than in other groups, according to researchers.

“Our scientific panel of advisors was extremely impressed with the scientific rigor of this study, the applicability of the results, and the fact that the findings have the potential to dramatically improve the lives of individuals with opioid dependence,” Audrey Klein, PhD, executive director of the Butler Center for Research at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, said in the release. “Primary care and/or the ED are the only points of health service contact for many opioid-dependent individuals. We know that screening and brief intervention in these settings can help, and we know that buprenorphine treatment is effective. The ED provides physicians with a unique opportunity to help clients deal with their opioid problem.”