ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2020
Changes in substance use in relation to opioid agonist therapy among people who use drugs in a Canadian setting.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of organisational factors on treatment outcomes for those seeking alcohol or other drug treatment: A systematic review.Drug and alcohol review · 2023Pooled it
- Comparative Effectiveness of Buprenorphine/Naloxone and Methadone on Methamphetamine/Amphetamine Use Among People with Opioid Use Disorder in Canada.Substance use & addiction journal · 2025Trial
- Associations Between Buprenorphine\Naloxone and Methadone Treatment and non-Opioid Substance Use in Prescription-Type Opioid Use Disorder: Secondary Analyses From the OPTIMA Study: Associations entre le traitement avec la buprénorphine/naloxone et avec la méthadone et l'utilisation de substances non opioïdes dans le trouble lié à l'usage d'opioïdes de type sur ordonnance : analyses secondaires de l'étude OPTIMA.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2024Trial
- Medication transitions and predictors of illicit substance use during opioid agonist treatment: a three-year follow-up study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Observational
- Prescribed pharmaceutical alternatives initiative coinciding with reductions in unregulated street opioid use among young people who use drugs: An interrupted time series analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Drug Use After Emergency Department-Initiated Injectable Buprenorphine: A Secondary Analysis of the ED-INNOVATION Ancillary Safety and Feasibility Trial.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency 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
- Opioid agonist therapy discontinuation in British Columbia: a cross-sectional study of people who access harm reduction services.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Initiation of opioid agonist treatment following hospital-treated opioid toxicities and the risk of repeat events in Ontario, Canada: a cohort study using inverse probability of treatment weights.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Change in substance use among patients in opioid maintenance treatment: baseline to 1-year follow-up.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Opioid Coprescription Through Risk Mitigation Guidance and Opioid Agonist Treatment Receipt.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Longitudinal latent polysubstance use patterns among a cohort of people who use opioids in Vancouver, Canada.Drug and alcohol review · 2023Article
- The impact of methamphetamine use on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment retention: a scoping review.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Article
- Polysubstance Use Patterns Associated With HIV Disease Severity Among Those With Substance Use Disorders: A Latent Class Analysis.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2023Article
- Opioid agonist therapy engagement and crystal methamphetamine use: The impact of unregulated opioid use in Vancouver, Canada.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Violence, policing, and systemic racism as structural barriers to substance use treatment amongst women sex workers who use drugs: Findings of a community-based cohort in Vancouver, Canada (2010-2019).Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Virtual opioid agonist treatment: Alberta's virtual opioid dependency program and outcomes.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2022Article
- Factors associated with 60-day adherence to "safer supply" opioids prescribed under British Columbia's interim clinical guidance for health care providers to support people who use drugs during COVID-19 and the ongoing overdose emergency.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Association of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment With Alcohol-Related Acute Events.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- Addressing treatment and care needs of older adults living with HIV who use drugs.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough previous studies have shown that opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is linked to reductions in illicit opioid use, less is known about how OAT impacts the use of other psychoactive substances. We aimed to examine the changes in use of different substances by comparing patterns before and after initiating OAT.
methodsData for this study was derived from three ongoing prospective cohorts involving people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada from 1996 to 2018. We assessed use patterns for heroin, illicit prescription opioid, cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, cannabis, daily alcohol use, and benzodiazepines. Segmented regression was conducted to compare the trends of substance use between pre-treatment and post-treatment periods.
resultsThe study included 1107 participants. After OAT engagement, we observed an immediate decline in the proportion as well as a decreasing trend for heroin (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.77, 0.83), illicit prescription opioid (AOR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83, 0.90), and benzodiazepines (AOR: 0.73, 95 % CI: 0.67, 0.80). There was no significant difference comparing the pre-treatment and post-treatment trends for cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and cannabis. However, higher growth slope was noted during the post-treatment period for daily alcohol use (P = 0.016).
conclusionsWe observed significant reduction in illicit opioids use following OAT initiation, but not for stimulant and cannabis. The increasing problematic use of alcohol may pose challenges to the safety and effectiveness of OAT. Development of comprehensive and tailored treatment strategies is needed for poly-substance users accessing OAT.
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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.