ER Drug Shown To Improve Treatment Adherence In Opioid Addicts, Study Says

A new study by researchers from the Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut shows that opioid addicts treated with a drug at the emergency room were likely to get help with their addiction problem compared to those who have only received drug counselling. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on April 28, ran for four years, from 2009 to 2013, and involved studying 329 volunteers.

The participants were grouped into three: those who received a referral to a local treatment centre, those who underwent brief counselling and then given a referral to a treatment centre, and those that were given an ER drug called buprenorphine with naloxone and then given the same brief counselling and referral. A follow-up was done on these participants after 30 days.

Lead study author Dr. Gail D’Onofrio noted that 78 percent of those who were given the ER drug enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program. Thirty-seven percent from those given with a referral only enrolled in a treatment program and 45 percent comprise those who received counselling and a referral.

Researchers also found that those given with buprenorphine decreased opioid use with an average of 5.4 days to 0.9 days in a week, as stated in the Live Science report. The group that received a referral was found to have reduced their use from 5.4 days down to 2.3 days in a week, and the group that received counselling decreased opioid use from 5.6 days to 2.4 days per week.

Medical Daily reports authors explained that the study was the first to compare the drug buprenorphine given together with referrals with the standard practice of providing counselling and referrals. The study was performed at a single hospital and authors note that there is a need to confirm with other emergency departments on the effectiveness of the drug before making it a common practice to prescribe buprenorphine in the ER departments.

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