The effect of craving on retention and treatment switching under buprenorphine-naloxone and methadone models of care for non-heroin opioid use disorder: Exploratory analyses from a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial

Christina McAnulty¹, Gabriel Bastien¹, Anita Abboud¹, Arash Bahremand¹, Omar Ledjiar², M Eugenia Socias³, Bernard Le Foll⁴, Louis-Christophe Juteau⁵, Didier Jutras-Aswad⁶; OPTIMA Research Group within the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 boul, Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada; Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), 900 Saint-Denis Street, Montréal, Québec H2X 0A9, Canada.
² Unité de recherche Clinique appliquée (URCA), Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier Ste-Justine, 3175 chemin de la Côte Ste-Catherine, Montréal, Québec H3T 1C5, Canada.
³ British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2A9, Canada; Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2A9, Canada.
⁴ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, 5th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1V7, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada; Translational Addiction Research Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Sciences Building, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada; Waypoint Research Institute, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, 500 Church Street, Penetanguishene, Ontario L9M 1G3, Canada.
⁵ Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), 900 Saint-Denis Street, Montréal, Québec H2X 0A9, Canada; Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréa, 2900 boul. Édouard-Montpetit, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 boul, Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada; Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), 900 Saint-Denis Street, Montréal, Québec H2X 0A9, Canada. Electronic address: didier.jutras-aswad@umontreal.ca.

PMID: 40571059
DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2025.209743

Free article

Randomized Controlled Trial

The effect of craving on retention and treatment switching under buprenorphine-naloxone and methadone models of care for non-heroin opioid use disorder: Exploratory analyses from a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial

Christina McAnulty et al. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2025 Sep.

Free article

. 2025 Sep:176:209743.

doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2025.209743. Epub 2025 Jun 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 boul, Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada; Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), 900 Saint-Denis Street, Montréal, Québec H2X 0A9, Canada.
² Unité de recherche Clinique appliquée (URCA), Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier Ste-Justine, 3175 chemin de la Côte Ste-Catherine, Montréal, Québec H3T 1C5, Canada.
³ British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2A9, Canada; Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2A9, Canada.
⁴ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, 5th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1V7, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada; Translational Addiction Research Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Sciences Building, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada; Waypoint Research Institute, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, 500 Church Street, Penetanguishene, Ontario L9M 1G3, Canada.
⁵ Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), 900 Saint-Denis Street, Montréal, Québec H2X 0A9, Canada; Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréa, 2900 boul. Édouard-Montpetit, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 boul, Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada; Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), 900 Saint-Denis Street, Montréal, Québec H2X 0A9, Canada. Electronic address: didier.jutras-aswad@umontreal.ca.

PMID: 40571059
DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2025.209743

Abstract

Introduction: Though opioid agonist therapies are the mainstay of treatment for opioid use disorder, treatment retention remains suboptimal. Improved prediction of who will remain in treatment could lead to improved treatment outcomes. Whether craving predicts reduced retention in treatment remains debated. We performed analyses to determine whether craving predicted treatment attrition or treatment switching in people with non-heroin opioid use disorder initiating opioid agonist therapy.

Methods: Our data came from the OPTIMA trial - a pan-Canadian, pragmatic, open-label, randomized controlled trial that compared a flexible, early take-home buprenorphine/naloxone model of care (n = 137) to standard treatment with methadone (n = 132) for non-heroin opioid use disorder over a period of 24 weeks. We performed Cox proportional hazards regression to conduct survival analyses of time (days) to treatment attrition, and time to switch to another treatment, with craving as a time-varying covariate, controlling for assigned treatment group, lifetime history of heroin use and province. Craving was measured at baseline, week 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 using the Brief Substance Craving Scale.

Results: We found that craving predicted both treatment drop out and treatment switching. A 1-point increase in craving was associated with a 15.3 % increase of risk of dropping out of the study (HR = 1.153, 95 % CI = 1.065 to 1.248, p < 0.001) and with a 11.5 % increase of risk of switching treatment (HR = 1.115, 95 % CI = 1.016 to 1.225, p = 0.022).

Conclusions: Craving predicted both treatment attrition and treatment switching in people receiving buprenorphine/naloxone or methadone models of care for non-heroin opioid use disorder. These findings highlight the importance of targeting and better addressing craving during treatment with opioid agonist therapies.

Keywords: Buprenorphine; Craving; Methadone; Opioid; Retention; Switching.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest CM, GB, AA, AB, OL, LCJ have no competing interest to declare. MES has received partial support from Indivior's investigator-initiated study program for work outside this study. BLF has obtained funding from Pfizer Inc. (GRAND Awards, including salary support) for investigator-initiated projects. BLF has obtained funding from Indivior for a clinical trial sponsored by Indivior. BLF has in-kind donations of cannabis products from Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc. and study medication donations from Pfizer Inc. (varenicline for smoking cessation) and Bioprojet Pharma. He was also provided a coil for a Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study from Brainsway. BLF has obtained industry funding from Canopy Growth Corporation (through research grants handled by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto), Bioprojet Pharma, Alcohol Countermeasure Systems (ACS), Alkermes and Universal Ibogaine. Lastly, BLF has received in kind donations of nabiximols from GW Pharmaceuticals for past studies funded by CIHR and NIH. He has participated in a session of a National Advisory Board Meeting (Emerging Trends BUP-XR) for Indivior Canada and is part of Steering Board for a clinical trial for Indivior. He has been consultant for Shinogi. He got travel support to attend an event by Bioprojet. He is supported by CAMH, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, a clinician-scientist award from the department of Family and Community Medicine of the University of Toronto and a Chair in Addiction Psychiatry from the department of Psychiatry of University of Toronto. DJA received study material from Cardiol Therapeutics for a clinical trial funded by a public agency, outside this study.

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The effect of craving on retention and treatment switching under buprenorphine-naloxone and methadone models of care for non-heroin opioid use disorder: Exploratory analyses from a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial

Affiliations

The effect of craving on retention and treatment switching under buprenorphine-naloxone and methadone models of care for non-heroin opioid use disorder: Exploratory analyses from a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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Substances

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical