SynthesisValue in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research2021
Economic Evaluations of Pharmacologic Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review.
Synthesis in Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Economic evaluation of diversion programs for people with drug-related legal involvement: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Cost per Opioid-Free Year: A Systematic Review and Summary Analysis.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2025Pooled it
- Cost-Effectiveness of Linkage Case Management for Hospitalized People With HIV.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Determinants of health-related quality of life among individuals with opioid use disorder, recently released from incarceration.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of extended-release injectable naltrexone among incarcerated persons with opioid use disorder before release from prison versus after release.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Trial
- Real-world comparative effects of slow-release oral morphine vs. methadone on healthcare use for opioid use disorder: A population-based target trial emulation.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Receipt of Pharmacotherapy and Association with Healthcare Utilization Among US Adults with Alcohol or Opioid Use Disorder, 2022-2023.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Integrated infectious disease and substance use disorder treatment for severe injection-related infections: protocol for the randomized controlled HI-SIRI trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 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
- A qualitative exploration of the downstream impact of a sustained disruption to the methadone supply in Mexico: effects on the mental, financial, and social health of patients with opioid use disorder in Tijuana.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2025Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Implementation Facilitation to Promote Emergency Department-Initiated Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder.Annals of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Universal Health Coverage of Opioid Agonist Treatment in Norway: An Equity-Adjusted Economic Evaluation.PharmacoEconomics · 2025Article
- Start-Up and Implementation Costs for the Trust Based Relational Intervention.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2024Article
- Protocol for a randomized controlled trial with a stepped care approach, utilizing PrEP navigation with and without contingency management, for transgender women and sexual minority men with a substance use disorder: Assistance Services Knowledge-PrEP (A.S.K.-PrEP).Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- Analyzing quality of life among people with opioid use disorder from the National Institute on Drug Abuse Data Share initiative: implications for decision making.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Informing evidence-based medicine for opioid use disorder using pharmacoeconomic studies.Expert review of pharmacoeconomics & outcomes research · 2024Review
- Simulated impact of medicaid expansion on the economic burden of opioid use disorder in North Carolina.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Cost of start-up activities to implement a community-level opioid overdose reduction intervention in the HEALing Communities Study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- Impact of Medication-Based Treatment on Health Care Utilization Among Individuals With Opioid Use Disorder.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2023Article
- Financial Sustainability of Novel Delivery Models in Behavioral Health Treatment.The journal of mental health policy and economics · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe crisis of opioid use puts a strain on resources in the United States and worldwide. There are 3 US Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for treatment of opioid use disorder: methadone, buprenorphine, and injectable extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX). The comparative effectiveness and cost vary considerably among these 3 medications. Economic evaluations provide evidence that help stakeholders efficiently allocate scarce resources. Our objective was to summarize recent health economic evidence of pharmacologic treatment of opioid use disorder interventions.
methodsWe searched PubMed for peer-reviewed studies in English from August 2015 through December 2019 as an update to a 2015 review. We used the Drummond checklist to evaluate and categorize economic evaluation study quality. We summarized results by economic evaluation methodology and pharmacologic treatment modality.
resultsWe identified 105 articles as potentially relevant and included 21 (4 cost-offset studies and 17 cost-effectiveness/cost-benefit studies). We found strengthened evidence on buprenorphine and methadone, indicating that these treatments are economically advantageous compared with no pharmacotherapy, but found limited evidence on XR-NTX. Only half of the cost-effectiveness studies used a generic preference-based measure of effectiveness, limiting broad comparison across diseases/disorders. The disease/disorder-specific cost-effectiveness measures vary widely, suggesting a lack of consensus on the value of substance use disorder treatment.
conclusionWe found studies that provide new evidence supporting the cost-effectiveness of buprenorphine compared with no pharmacotherapy. We found a lack of evidence supporting superior economic value for buprenorphine versus methadone, suggesting that both are attractive alternatives. Further economic research is needed on XR-NTX, as well as other emerging pharmacotherapies, treatment modalities, and dosage forms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.