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Opioid use remains concerning among buprenorphine users

Recent findings indicated that a significant proportion of individuals who received buprenorphine for opioid use disorder filled prescriptions for non-buprenorphine opioids during and following buprenorphine treatment.

“Policymakers may believe that people treated for opioid addiction are cured, but people with substance use disorders have a lifelong vulnerability, even if they are not actively using,” study researcher G. Caleb Alexander, MD, MS, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a press release. “Our findings highlight the importance of stable, ongoing care for these patients.”

G. Caleb Alexander

To determine the prevalence of non-buprenorphine opioid use among incident buprenorphine users, researchers analyzed QuintilesIMS anonymized, individual-level, all-payer pharmacy claims to identify new buprenorphine users (n = 38,096). Study participants were aged 29 to 54 years. Median length of first treatment episode was 55 days.

Overall, 43% of participants filled an opioid prescription during the treatment episode and 67% filled an opioid prescription following treatment.

The mean daily morphine milligram equivalents (MME) received 12 months prior to treatment decreased from 57 mg per day to 54 mg per day during the treatment episode and remained constant at 55 mg per day following treatment episode.

“Unlike methadone, buprenorphine can be prescribed for opioid use disorders in primary care, so it is an important treatment option for clinicians and patients to have,” study researcher Matthew Daubresse, a doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in the release. “But many patients, especially those with shorter lengths of treatment, appear to be continuing to use prescription opioids during and after buprenorphine treatment. We need to find better ways to keep patients engaged in long-term treatment, and these efforts couldn’t be more urgent given how many Americans continue to die or get injured from opioids.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Daubresse reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.