ReviewDrug and alcohol dependence2011
The association between outpatient buprenorphine detoxification duration and clinical treatment outcomes: a review.
Review in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Barriers and facilitators to detoxification from opioid substitution treatment: A mixed-methods systematic review.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Discontinuation of buprenorphine maintenance therapy: perspectives and outcomes.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2015Pooled it
- Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of gabapentin during outpatient buprenorphine-assisted taper and transition to injectable naltrexone.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2025Trial
- Discontinuation of medication treatment for opioid use disorder after a successful course: The discontinuation phase of the CTN-0100 (RDD) trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Trial
- Predictors of induction onto extended-release naltrexone among unemployed heroin-dependent adults.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2018Trial
- Efficacy of Tramadol Extended-Release for Opioid Withdrawal: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA psychiatry · 2017Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of buprenorphine taper duration among opioid-dependent adolescents and young adults.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2016Trial
- Characterizing opioid withdrawal during double-blind buprenorphine detoxification.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2015Trial
- Predictors of buprenorphine initial outpatient maintenance and dose taper response among non-treatment-seeking heroin dependent volunteers.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2015Trial
- Employment-based abstinence reinforcement following inpatient detoxification in HIV-positive opioid and/or cocaine-dependent patients.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- A randomized, double-blind evaluation of buprenorphine taper duration in primary prescription opioid abusers.JAMA psychiatry · 2013Trial
- Predictors of outcome after short-term stabilization with buprenorphine.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2013Trial
- A stage I pilot study of acceptance and commitment therapy for methadone detoxification.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2012Trial
- The Behavioral Health Treatment Engagement and Retention Learning Collaborative to Improve Receipt and Continuity of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Hyperbaric oxygen treatment attenuates naloxone-precipitated opioid withdrawal behaviors and alters microglial activity in male and female mice.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Outpatient-based buprenorphine-assisted opioid withdrawal management: A preliminary prospective observational study.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Tapering and withdrawing opioids: guidance informed by fundamental principles to minimise withdrawal symptoms.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- A prospective cohort of treatment-seeking patients with problematic use of prescription narcotic drugs: study protocol and baseline characteristics.BMC psychiatry · 2024Observational
- Buprenorphine use and courses of care for opioid use disorder treatment within the Veterans Health Administration.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe association between buprenorphine taper duration and treatment outcomes is not well understood. This review evaluated whether duration of outpatient buprenorphine taper is significantly associated with treatment outcomes.
methodsStudies that were published in peer-reviewed journals, administered buprenorphine as an outpatient taper to opioid-dependent participants, and provided data on at least one of three primary treatment outcome measures (opioid abstinence, retention, peak withdrawal severity) were reviewed. Primary treatment outcomes were evaluated as a function of taper duration using hierarchical linear regressions with pre-taper maintenance duration as a cofactor.
resultsTwenty-eight studies were reviewed. Taper duration significantly predicted percent of opioid-negative samples provided during treatment, however pre-taper maintenance period predicted percent participants abstinent on the final day of treatment. High rates of relapse were reported. No significant association between taper duration and retention in treatment or peak withdrawal severity was observed.
conclusionThe data reviewed here suggest taper duration is associated with opioid abstinence achieved during detoxification but not with other markers of treatment outcome. The reviewed studies varied widely on several parameters (e.g., frequency of urinalysis testing, provision of ancillary medications) that may influence treatment outcome and thus could have interfered with the ability to identify relationships between taper duration and outcomes. Future studies evaluating opioid detoxification should utilize rigorous experimental methods and report a wider range of outcome measures in order to help advance our understanding of the association between taper duration and treatment outcomes.
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