ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2020
Trajectories of retention in opioid agonist therapy in a Canadian setting.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oral and injectable opioid agonist treatments for people who use street opioids: a systematic literature review and network meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Examining inequities in access to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) take-home doses (THD): A Canadian OAT guideline synthesis and systematic review.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of relaxing restrictions on take-home doses during the COVID-19 pandemic on program effectiveness and client experiences in opioid agonist treatment: a mixed methods systematic review.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Pooled it
- Slow-Release Oral Morphine vs Methadone for Opioid Use Disorder in the Fentanyl Era.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Factors influencing family physicians' willingness to prescribe opioid agonist therapy using virtual modalities: a qualitative analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Examining opioid agonist treatment (OAT) site operations and early signals of change in the first year of British Columbia's drug decriminalization policy: Insights from a provincial survey.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025Article
- Longitudinal polysubstance use patterns and non-fatal overdose: A repeated measures latent class analysis.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Trajectories of medication for opioid use disorder and their impact on HIV testing among people who inject drugs in India: A longitudinal assessment of clinic-based data.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Case report: Local anesthesia with lidocaine infiltration for extended-release buprenorphine therapy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Reframing conceptualizations of primary care involvement in opioid use disorder treatment.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- A qualitative evaluation of a fentanyl patch safer supply program in Vancouver, Canada.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Article
- Characterizing opioid agonist therapy uptake and factors associated with treatment retention among people with HIV in British Columbia, Canada.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- Typology of laws restricting access to methadone treatment in the United States: A latent class analysis.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- The impact of methamphetamine use on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment retention: a scoping review.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Article
- Trajectories of drug treatment and illicit opioid use in the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience cohort, 2014-2019.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Acceptability, feasibility, and outcomes of a clinical pilot program for video observation of methadone take-home dosing during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Observational
- Shifts in substance use patterns among a cohort of people who use opioids after delisting of OxyContin in BC, Canada: An interrupted time series study.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Short communication: Relationship between social determinants and opioid use disorder treatment outcomes by gender.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Psychedelic use is associated with reduced daily opioid use among people who use illicit drugs in a Canadian setting.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLong-term engagement in opioid agonist therapy (OAT) has been consistently associated with reduced risk for morbidity and mortality in people with opioid use disorder (OUD). However, the dynamic nature of engagement/disengagement in OUD care for over time is poorly captured by traditional metrics. We characterized long-term longitudinal trajectories of engagement in OAT in Vancouver, Canada, between 2005 and 2018.
methodsData were derived from two community-recruited prospective cohorts of people who use drugs. Retention in OAT was defined as self-reported enrolment in OAT for two consecutive follow-up periods (an approximately six-month retention interval). We used latent class growth analysis to identify OAT engagement trajectories during the first five years after OAT initiation and multivariable logistic regression to evaluate predictors of trajectory group membership.
resultsWe identified four OAT retention trajectories among 438 OAT initiators: "consistently high" (36%), "consistently low" (23%), "increasing" (23%), and "decreasing" (15%). Employment was a significant cross-cutting predictor of membership of all sub-optimal OAT engagement patterns compared to consistently high trajectories. We also found that initiating OAT after 2014 (when regulatory changes to the provincial OAT program were introduced) was associated with the "consistently low" engagement group relative to others.
conclusionsWe identified four distinct OAT engagement trajectories in Vancouver, Canada, with employment being a common predictor of sub-optimal care trajectories, suggesting the need to explore alternative OAT models to address employment-related barriers. Care trajectory analysis could help inform tailored interventions to specific populations of people with OUD at specific time points to improve engagement in OAT, and decrease opioid-related morbidity and mortality.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.