Higher Buprenorphine Dose May Improve Treatment Retention for Opioid Use Disorder

Patients who received a higher daily dose of buprenorphine (24 mg) were significantly more likely to remain in treatment over six months compared with those who received a lower dose (16 mg), according to astudy published this week inJAMA Network Open.“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends a target dose of 16 mg for buprenorphine maintenance treatment, with an upper limit of 24 mg,” wrote Laura Chambers, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Brown University and colleagues. The authors noted that this recommendation was established prior to the emerge nce of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply. “Some physicians have suggested that the current daily maintenance target dose of buprenorphine (16 mg) may be inadequate to control withdrawal and cravings in patients who used fentanyl and that a higher daily dose may better suppress withdrawal and cra vings.”Chambers and colleagues conducted a retrospective study using data from the Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. They included patients who initiated buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder for the first time between October 2016 and September 2020. Each patient was followed for 180 days after initiation. The authors categorized patients as having discontinued treatment if they had a gap in treatment of more than 27 days based on prescription fill dates and days ’ supply. To account for slight variations in prescribing, the authors categorized patients who received daily doses in the 14-18 mg range in the ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: buprenorphine discontinuation fentanyl JAMA Network Open Nora Volkow opioid use disorder Rhode Island treatment retention Source Type: research