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Abstract

Objective:

This study evaluated the association between medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and health care utilization over time among a sample of treatment-seeking individuals with opioid use disorder. In contrast to previous studies, this study used a novel measure of MOUD adherence, more comprehensive utilization data, and analyses that controlled for detailed individual and social determinants of health.

Methods:

This study was a secondary analysis of a comparative effectiveness trial (N=570) of extended-release naltrexone versus buprenorphine-naloxone. The outcome of interest was usage of nonstudy acute care, inpatient and outpatient addiction services, and other outpatient services across 36 weeks of assessment. Adherence (percentage of days taking MOUD) was defined as low (<20%), medium (≥20% but <80%), or high (≥80%). A two-part model evaluated the probability of utilizing a resource and the quantity (utilization days) of the resource consumed. A time-varying approach was used to examine the effect of adherence in a given month on utilization in the same month, with analyses controlling for a wide range of person-level characteristics.

Results:

Participants with high adherence (vs. low) were significantly less likely to use inpatient addiction (p<0.001) and acute care (p<0.001) services and significantly more likely to engage in outpatient addiction (p=0.045) and other outpatient (p=0.042) services.

Conclusions:

These findings reinforce the understanding that greater MOUD adherence is associated with reduced usage of high-cost health services and increased usage of outpatient care. The results further suggest the need for enhanced access to MOUD and for interventions that improve adherence.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Pages: 1227 - 1233
PubMed: 37337675

History

Received: 25 October 2022
Revision received: 5 March 2023
Accepted: 4 April 2023
Published online: 20 June 2023
Published in print: December 01, 2023

Keywords

  1. Adherence
  2. Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD)
  3. Health care utilization
  4. Person-level characteristics

Authors

Details

Manesh Gopaldas, M.D. [email protected]
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
Kevin Wenzel, Ph.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
Aimee N. C. Campbell, Ph.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
Ali Jalali, Ph.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
Marc Fishman, M.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
John Rotrosen, M.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
Edward V. Nunes, M.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).
Sean M. Murphy, Ph.D.
New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City (Gopaldas, Campbell, Nunes); Maryland Treatment Centers, Baltimore (Wenzel, Fishman); Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City (Jalali, Murphy); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Fishman); Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Rotrosen).

Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Gopaldas ([email protected]).

Competing Interests

Dr. Fishman has served as a consultant for Alkermes, Drug Delivery LLC, Indivior, and Verily Life Sciences and has received research support from Alkermes. Dr. Rotrosen has received indirect research support from Alkermes, Braeburn, CHESS Health, Datacubed Health, Indivior, and Pear Therapeutics; he serves as a principal investigator for the New York Node of the NIDA CTN and as chair of the data and safety monitoring board for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study; and he has served as chair of the data and safety monitoring board for a trial conducted by the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse. Dr. Nunes has received research support from Alkermes, Braeburn, Camurus, CHESS Health, Indivior, and Pear Therapeutics; he has served as a nonpaid consultant for Alkermes, Camurus, Indivior, and Pear Therapeutics; and he serves as a principal investigator for the New York Node of the NIDA CTN. Dr. Murphy has served on an advisory board for Indivior. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

The primary study and secondary data analyses reported in this article were supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (grants UG1 DA013035 and T32 DA007294).

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