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Just 1 in 4 Residential Programs Offer Buprenorphine for Adolescents
Only 1 in 4 residential addiction treatment facilities caring for adolescents in the US offers buprenorphine, with just 1 in 8 offering buprenorphine for ongoing treatment, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The study was conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and it was backed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Findings were published in JAMA.
Buprenorphine currently is the only medication for opioid use disorder treatment to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients between the ages of 16 and 18. While buprenorphine is not approved for patients under 16, some professional medical societies have recommended that it be considered as an option for younger patients.
“It is tragic to see that young people with opioid use disorder are unable to access buprenorphine in most treatment facilities, despite this medication being the standard of care for people aged 16 and older,” NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD, said in a news release. “Residential treatment facilities provide an opportunity to reach young people with a range of evidence-based supports at a pivotal time in their lives, and it is crucial that buprenorphine is made available as one of those options.”
OHSU researchers reviewed data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) FindTreatment.gov database to identify 354 facilities that offer treatment for substance use in a “residential/24-hour residential” service setting for patients who were “children/adolescents” (defined as patients 17 years old or younger). Between October and December 2022, researchers contacted the facilities posing as a 16-year-old seeking services after experiencing a recent non-fatal fentanyl overdose.
Of the 160 residential facilities that were found to provide treatment to young people, 39 said they offered buprenorphine to patients at least 16 years of age, including through partnerships with outside prescribing clinicians. Specific parameters for offering buprenorphine varied by facility, with just 20 facilities offering the medication for ongoing treatment and 12 facilities to adolescents under the age of 16.
OHSU researchers calculated that based on their findings, patients would have to contact 9 facilities on SAMHSA’s list to find one that offered buprenorphine. For patients under 16, the number of facilities needed to be contacted on average would be 29.
“Buprenorphine is the one medication that’s approved for use in adolescents, and it’s underused in facilities taking care of kids with the most severe opioid use disorder,” study co-author Todd Korthuis, MD, MPH, head of addiction medicine at OHSU, said in the release. “It’s a big issue, but it’s something that we can change by supporting these treatment centers with education and technical assistance about buprenorphine, better funding to staff these centers, and by letting the public know that buprenorphine is necessary treatment in healing brains.”
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