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Review
. 2022 Jul 31;14(7):e27509.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.27509. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Accessibility of Treatment Among Women With Opioid Use Disorder: A Brief Review

Abdul Rahim Khan  1 , Olubusola Olatunji  2 , Danish Qureshi  3 , Peterson Metellus  3 , Stanley Nkemjika  4   3
Affiliations
Review

Accessibility of Treatment Among Women With Opioid Use Disorder: A Brief Review

Abdul Rahim Khan et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Opioid-use disorder (OUD) has become a social pandemic with a rising incidence and prevalence among women. Notably, women with OUD were more likely to have psychiatric comorbidities like major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder. Evidence suggests that opioid exposure and subsequent disease among women compared to men is unique and attributable to hormonal estrogen levels. However, there remains a dearth of literature on their ability to access treatment when needed. There is also a gap in the perceived access to women as compared to men. Hence, our review will focus on factors that may affect women from seeking OUD treatment as compared to men.

Keywords: addiction psychiatry; health policy and advocacy; opioid use disorders; treatment disparity; womens health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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