ArticleJournal of substance abuse treatment2021
Changes in methadone program practices and fatal methadone overdose rates in Connecticut during COVID-19.
Article in Journal of substance abuse treatment, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Access and use of general and mental health services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled 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
- Have Deaths of Despair Risen during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19-related methadone regulatory flexibilities: views of state opioid treatment authorities and program staff.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Trial
- Medicaid payment policies for methadone maintenance treatment for opioid use disorder, 2020-2025.Health affairs scholar · 2026Article
- Envisioning a Humane and Accessible US Methadone Treatment System: Generating Policy and Practice Recommendations From the Liberate Methadone Movement.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- De-implementation of inequitable methadone policy and treatment: lessons learned from COVID-19 to support a more just methadone treatment system in the United States.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Developing and validating measures of take-home methadone with administrative data.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- Insurance coverage and provision of opioid disorder treatment: Evidence from Medicare.Journal of policy analysis and management : [the journal of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management] · 2026Article
- Article
- Key-Informant Perspectives On Pharmacy-Based Methadone Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder In The US.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2025Article
- Innovations at the intersection of homelessness and substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Does a take-home dose program result in better patient adherence to methadone? Evidence from Vietnam.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- The Importance of Treatment Modality in Veterans with Opioid Use Disorder: Implications for Virtual Care.Community mental health journal · 2025Article
- State sequence analysis of daily methadone dispensing trajectories among individuals at United States opioid treatment programs before and following COVID-19 onset.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Article
- Perspectives of substance use disorder counselors on the benefits and drawbacks of medications for opioid use disorder.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Patient centered medication treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Vermont: a qualitative study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Payment and billing strategies to support methadone take-home medication: Perspectives of financial leaders of opioid treatment program organizations in New York State.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Methadone treatment utilization and overdose trends among Medicaid beneficiaries in New Jersey before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has relaxed restrictions on methadone treatment in the United States. There is concern that the relaxation may increase fatal overdose rates. This study examines opioid treatment program (OTP) changes to methadone treatment during COVID-19 and changes in fatal methadone-involved overdose rates in Connecticut.
methodsFrom July 8th to August 18th, 2020, we conducted a comprehensive state-wide survey of all eight OTPs that dispense methadone in Connecticut to examine programmatic changes during COVID-19. We also analyzed state-level data on confirmed accidental opioid-involved deaths to assess if relaxation of take-home dosing restrictions and in-person attendance requirements correlated with increased methadone-involved fatal overdose rates.
resultsOTPs reported implementing multiple changes to methadone treatment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The percent of patients receiving 28-day take-home doses increased from 0.1% to 16.8%, 14-day take-home doses increased from 14.2% to 26.8%, and the percent receiving one or no take-home doses decreased from 37.5% to 9.6%. Monthly or more frequent drug testing decreased from 15% to 4.6% and 75.2% of individual counseling for methadone patients transitioned to telehealth. However, changes to methadone treatment varied considerably by program. OTP providers said restrictions on methadone should be relaxed and increases in take-home dosing as well as telehealth should be continued in non-pandemic situations. Methadone-involved fatalities relative to other opioid-involved fatalities did not increase in Connecticut following changes in OTP practices.
conclusionsConnecticut OTPs relaxed methadone treatment requirements during COVID-19. Since relaxing restrictions on methadone treatment has not increased fatal overdoses, we recommend that the reductions in-person dosing and attendance requirements implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic should be continued and made permanent.
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