A Rutgers study has found that medication for opioid use disorders, such as buprenorphine, after a nonfatal overdose event can reduce mortality risk. The study highlights the need for potentially lifesaving treatment following nonfatal opioid overdoses as these events are strong risk factors for repeat overdose and death. However, the study also found that fewer than one in 20 individuals who experienced a nonfatal opioid overdose received buprenorphine medication. Interventions that specifically target disadvantaged groups are needed to address disparities in treatment access, particularly for patients with disabilities who may face greater barriers to care due to transportation difficulties or scheduling challenges related to individual or caregiver obligations at home and work. The study emphasizes the importance of expanding the availability and use of buprenorphine in general medical settings to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder and medication treatment.
Study Finds Buprenorphine After Nonfatal Opioid Overdose Lowers Mortality Risk
A recent Rutgers study has discovered that medication for opioid use disorders, such as buprenorphine, after a nonfatal overdose event can reduce mortality risk. Drug overdose deaths, primarily caused by opioids, are a significant public health issue in the United States, with more than 105,000 reported in 2021.
The study used national Medicare beneficiary data to identify adults aged 18 to 64 years with disabilities who received inpatient or emergency treatment for nonfatal opioid overdose between 2008 and 2016. Researchers examined the patterns of opioid use disorder treatment after surviving a nonfatal overdose to estimate the relationship of buprenorphine medication and psychosocial services with the risk of overdose death in the following year.
The study found that receiving buprenorphine medication after a nonfatal opioid overdose was associated with a 62 percent reduction in the risk of subsequent opioid overdose death. However, fewer than one in 20 individuals who experienced a nonfatal opioid overdose in the study received buprenorphine medication.
Buprenorphine, a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder, can be prescribed or dispensed in physician offices and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The findings of the study highlight the need to initiate potentially lifesaving treatment following nonfatal opioid overdoses as these events are strong risk factors for repeat overdose and death.
Hillary Samples, assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead researcher of the study, said, “Within the healthcare system, we need to expand availability and use of buprenorphine in general medical settings, including emergency departments and telehealth visits, and to continue working to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder and medication treatment more broadly.”
The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, emphasizes the importance of expanding the availability and use of buprenorphine in general medical settings to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder and medication treatment.
Rutgers Study Calls for Interventions to Address Disparities in Treatment Access
A Rutgers study emphasizes the need for interventions that specifically target disadvantaged groups to address disparities in treatment access. Hillary Samples, a faculty member at the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Sciences at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH), stated that interventions are particularly important for patients with disabilities who may face greater barriers to care due to transportation difficulties or scheduling challenges related to individual or caregiver obligations at home and work.
Other authors of the study include Stephen Crystal and Molly Nowels of IFH, as well as Arthur Williams and Mark Olfson of the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.
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