Risks of returning to opioid use at treatment entry and early in opioid use disorder treatment: Role of non-opioid substances

Authors: Felipe Castillo, Mei-Chen Hu, Ying Liu, Raymond R. Balise, Roger D. Weiss, John Rotrosen, Edward V. Nunes, Andrew J. Saxon, Daniel J. Feaster, Sean X. Luo

Patients in treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) often report use of other substances in addition to opioids. Few studies exist that examine the relationship between use at treatment entry and early non-opioid use in opioid treatment outcome.

Methodology

We combined and harmonized three randomized, controlled MOUD clinical trials from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network (CTN) (N=2197) and investigated the association of non-opioid substance use at treatment entry and during early treatment with a return to opioid use.

When treatment cohorts were adjusted, no association between self-reported treatment entry use of non-opioid substances and week-12 opioid use was detected.

Substance use other than opioids at treatment entry is not associated with relapse. Use of cocaine or amphetamines during the first few weeks of MOUD treatment may signal a worse outcome, suggesting a need for additional interventions