A new study, Adjunctive Psychosocial Interventions and Opioid Abstinence Among Patients Receiving Buprenorphine, was recently published in JAMA Network Open. Led by the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) in collaboration with PHMC’s Research & Evaluation Group, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania, the study aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of two psychosocial treatments, peer recovery support (PRS) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), on opioid abstinence and other outcomes when used as add-on therapies to office-based buprenorphine treatment in adults with opioid use disorder.
The study found that adding peer recovery support (PRS) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to buprenorphine treatment did not help people stop using opioids or improve other key outcomes. Many people stopped taking buprenorphine early, so they did not receive much of the additional support. Researchers found no differences in how satisfied people were with their treatment, how long they stayed in treatment, their quality of life, emergency room visits, or overdose rates, whether they received PRS, CBT, both, or neither.
“This study was designed to answer an important question for the field: whether providing adjunctive psychosocial services to buprenorphine treatment benefits patients with opioid use disorder. What we found, however, was that many patients discontinued buprenorphine treatment before receiving sufficient exposure to either cognitive behavioral therapy or peer recovery support,” said Karen Dugosh, study co-author, Director of Research, PHMC Research & Evaluation Group. “Factors such as inadequate buprenorphine dosing relative to the current drug supply, polysubstance use, and financial or housing instability may have contributed to this early disengagement. These findings underscore the critical need for effective strategies to keep patients engaged in buprenorphine treatment during the early stages of care so they have the opportunity to benefit from adjunctive services.”
PHMC’s Research & Evaluation Group collaborates with communities, government agencies, the health care sector, and other nonprofit agencies to address public health in southeastern Pennsylvania and across the country. Their multi-disciplinary team is dedicated to helping clients understand their communities, improve their programming, and strengthen their impact. Learn more about the Research & Evaluation Group here.
