Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr 1;122(1-2):55-60.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.09.009. Epub 2011 Sep 29.

African American patients seeking treatment in the public sector: characteristics of buprenorphine vs. methadone patients

Shannon Gwin Mitchell  1 , Sharon M Kelly, Jan Gryczynski, C Patrick Myers, Jerome H Jaffe, Kevin E O'Grady, Yngvild K Olsen, Robert P Schwartz
Affiliations

African American patients seeking treatment in the public sector: characteristics of buprenorphine vs. methadone patients

Shannon Gwin Mitchell et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: To expand its public-sector treatment capacity, Baltimore City made buprenorphine treatment accessible to low-income, largely African American residents. This study compares the characteristics of patients entering methadone treatment vs. buprenorphine treatment to determine whether BT was attracting different types of patients.

Methods: Participants consisted of two samples of adult heroin-dependent African Americans. The first sample was newly admitted to a health center or a mental health center providing buprenorphine (N=200), and the second sample was newly admitted to one of two hospital-based methadone programs (N=178). The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and the Friends Supplemental Questionnaire were administered at treatment entry and data were analyzed with logistic regression.

Results: BT participants were more likely to be female (p=.017) and less likely to inject (p=.001). Participants with only prior buprenorphine treatment experience were nearly five time more likely to enter buprenorphine than methadone treatment (p<.001). Those with experience with both treatments were more than twice as likely to enter BT (OR=2.7, 95% CI=1.11-6.62; p=.028). In the 30 days prior to treatment entry, BT participants reported more days of medical problems (p=.002) and depression (p=.044), and were more likely to endorse a lifetime history of depression (p<.001).

Conclusion: Methadone and buprenorphine treatment provided in the public sector may attract different patient subpopulations. Providing buprenorphine treatment through drug treatment programs co-located with a health and mental health center may have accounted for their higher rates of medical and psychiatric problems and appears to be useful in attracting a diverse group of patients into public-sector funded treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Dr. O’Grady has consulted with Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Other authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Auriacombe M, Fatseas M, Dubernet J, Daulouede JP, Tignol J. French field experience with buprenorphine. Am J Addict. 2004;13(Suppl 1):S17–28. - PubMed
    1. Beschner GM, Walters JM. Just another habit? Heroin users’ perspective on treatment. In: Hanson B, Beschner G, Walters JM, Bovelle E, editors. Life With Heroin: Voices from the Inner City. Lexington Books; Lexington, Mass: 1985.
    1. Comer SD, Sullivan MA, Hulse GK. Sustained-release naltrexone: novel treatment for opioid dependence. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2007;16:1285–1294. - PubMed
    1. Jaffe JH, O’Keeffe C. From morphine clinics to buprenorphine: regulating opioid agonist treatment of addiction in the United States. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2003;70(Suppl 2):S3–S11. - PubMed
    1. Ling W, Casadonte P, Bigelow G, Kampman KM, Patkar A, Bailey GL, Rosenthal RN, Beebe KL. Buprenorphine implants for treatment of opioid dependence: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2010;304:1576–1583. - PubMed

Publication types