Long-term Buprenorphine/Naloxone Outcomes Promising for Prescription Opioid Users

Despite the growing prevalence of prescription opioid dependence, studies have examined only short-term treatment response, not what happens over a longer period of time.

This study examined outcomes over 42 months in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network’s Prescription Opioid Abuse Treatment Study (POATS, CTN-0030), to see what, if any, improvements in abstinence from opioids was seen after the conclusion of the original 9-month study period.

POATS was a multi-site clinical trial examining different durations of buprenorphine-naloxone plus standard medical management for prescription opioid dependence. A subset of participants (375 of 653) enrolled in this follow-up study, agreeing to participate in telephone interviews approximately 18, 30, and 42 months after main-trial enrollment.

Results revealed significant improvements at month 42:

• 31.7% were abstinent from opioids and not on agonist therapy;
• 29.4% were receiving opioid agonist therapy but met no symptom criteria for current opioid dependence;
• 7.5% were using illicit opioids while on agonist therapy;
• 31.4% were using opioids without agonist therapy

Conclusions: This was the first study to examine long-term treatment outcomes of patients with prescription opioid dependence and results were more encouraging than short-term outcomes from POATS suggested they might be. Long-term outcomes for those dependent on prescription opioids demonstrated clear improvement from baseline, underscoring the importance of longer-term follow-up in improving understanding about the course of this increasingly prevalent substance use disorder.

Find out more at the CTN Dissemination Library: http://ctndisseminationlibrary.org/display/1132.htm