Certain Patients With OUD Remain at Risk of Overdose After Entering Treatment

Patients who enrolled in a trial of medication treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) who did not start or complete their assigned medication were at greater risk of experiencing an overdose than those who took their medication, according to astudy published inThe American Journal of Psychiatry.“A substantial body of evidence has shown that treatment with medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) can decrease both overdose risk and all-cause mortality among people with opioid use disorder,” wrote Laura Brandt, Ph.D., of City College of New York and colleagues. “The aim of this study was to estimate the risk of overdose events once a patient is diagnosed with OUD and engaged in MOUD treatment and to test whether the assignment to a medication (methadone, buprenorphine, extended-release naltrexone) influences this risk.”Brandt and colleagues used data from three large MOUD clinical trials that included 2,199 adult participants with OUD:In the first study, participants received outpatient methadone or buprenorphine treatment for 24 weeks. Adverse events such as overdoses were reported weekly.For the second study, participants received counseling and buprenorphine for three to four weeks and were followed for an additional four to eight weeks. Those who did not maintain abstinence received buprenorphine treatment for 12 weeks followed by a four-week taper period. Adverse events were reported biweekly.Participants in the third study received outpatient buprenorphine or ex...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: American Journal of Psychiatry medication for OUD MOUD opioid use disorder overdose Source Type: research