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Comparative Study
. 2018 Nov:94:55-59.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.08.011. Epub 2018 Aug 28.

Buprenorphine treatment formulations: Preferences among persons in opioid withdrawal management

Shannon R Kenney  1 , Bradley J Anderson  2 , Genie L Bailey  3 , Michael D Stein  4
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Buprenorphine treatment formulations: Preferences among persons in opioid withdrawal management

Shannon R Kenney et al. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

Background: In the current study, we examined factors predicting willingness to receive buprenorphine treatment and preferences for various buprenorphine formulations (oral, injection, implant) among persons in opioid withdrawal management.

Methods: Participants were three hundred thirty-eight persons entering brief inpatient opioid withdrawal management programs at two sites. We used t-tests and Pearson χ2 - tests of independence to compare participants willing and unwilling to be prescribed buprenorphine in the future. Among persons willing to receive buprenorphine, we used multinomial logistic regression to estimate the adjusted effects of potential correlates of type of buprenorphine formulation preferred.

Results: Participants averaged 33.9 (±9.5) years of age, 70.4% were male, 82.8% were White, and 11.0% were Latino/a. In all, 55.6% of participants had been prescribed buprenorphine in the past, and 54.7% were willing to use prescribed buprenorphine in the future. Those reporting past month illicit buprenorphine use and prior overdose were more willing to use prescribed buprenorphine. Of these (n = 180), most preferred daily buprenorphine formulations (tablet or film) (48.6%) over a weekly or monthly injection (23.1%) or bi-annual implant (28.3%).

Conclusions: Past buprenorphine prescription does not predict future willingness to restart. Among those willing to use buprenorphine, newer formulations of buprenorphine appealed to more than half of the participants.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01751789.

Keywords: Buprenorphine; Heroin; Opioid agonist treatment; Opioids.

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