ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2023
The association between buprenorphine treatment duration and mortality: a multi-site cohort study of people who discontinued treatment.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does implementation of office based addiction treatment by a nurse care manager increase the duration of OUD treatment in primary care? A secondary analysis of the PROUD randomized control trial.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Trial
- Discontinuing extended-release buprenorphine: Participant experiences from a mixed-methods observational study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Health Plan Disenrollment and Mortality After Initiation of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.JAMA psychiatry · 2026Article
- Evaluating the optimal duration of medication treatment for opioid use disorder.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Private Equity Acquisition and Buprenorphine Prescribing.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Article
- Subgroup identification of disparities in buprenorphine discontinuation in opioid-use disorder: A Virtual Twins machine learning approach using nationwide United States claims data, 2006-2022.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Practical guidance for navigating buprenorphine discontinuation.Harm reduction journal · 2025Review
- Predicting treatment retention in medication for opioid use disorder: a machine learning approach using NLP and LLM-derived clinical features.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025Article
- Addressing wholesale distributor barriers to buprenorphine access: Consensus recommendations from the PhARM-OUD expert panel.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Association of state medicaid prescription cap policies with trajectories of buprenorphine use for opioid use disorder.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Effects of ΔThe Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2025Article
- Study Protocol for Pain Self-Management and Patient-Oriented Buprenorphine Dosing for Pain and Retention in Office-Based Opioid Treatment: A Hybrid Type 1, 2 × 2 Factorial Randomized Controlled Trial.Substance use & addiction journal · 2025Article
- Associations between COVID impact domains and time to buprenorphine treatment disengagement.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2025Article
- Low-dose buprenorphine initiation and treatment continuation among hospitalized patients with opioid dependence: A retrospective cohort study.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
- Clinical stakeholders' perceptions of patient engagement in outpatient medication treatment for opioid use disorder: A qualitative study.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
- Identification of opioid use disorder using electronic health records: Beyond diagnostic codes.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Buprenorphine and opioid analgesics: Dispensation and discontinuity among accidental overdose fatalities in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, 2016-2021.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Article
- Commentary on Glanz et al.: Longer buprenorphine treatment duration is associated with lower rates of opioid overdose, but can we address barriers to staying in treatment?Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Article
- The association between buprenorphine treatment duration and mortality: a multi-site cohort study of people who discontinued treatment.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 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
15 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsBuprenorphine is an effective medication for opioid use disorder that reduces mortality; however, many patients are not retained in buprenorphine treatment, and an optimal length of treatment after which patients can safely discontinue treatment has not been identified. This study measured the association between buprenorphine treatment duration and all-cause mortality among patients who discontinued treatment. Secondary objectives were to measure the association between treatment duration and drug overdose and opioid-related overdoses.
designMulti-site cohort study.
settingEight US health systems.
participantsPatients who initiated and discontinued buprenorphine treatment between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2018 (n = 6550). Outcomes occurring after patients discontinued buprenorphine treatment were compared between patients who initiated and discontinued treatment after 8-30, 31-90, 91-180, 181-365 and > 365 days. MEASUREMENTS: Covariate data were obtained from electronic health records (EHRs). Mortality outcomes were derived from EHRs and state vital statistics. Non-fatal opioid and drug overdoses were obtained from diagnostic codes. Four sites provided cause-of-death data to identify fatal drug and opioid-related overdoses. Adjusted frailty regression was conducted on a propensity-weighted cohort to assess associations between duration of the final treatment episode and outcomes.
findingsThe mortality rate after buprenorphine treatment was 1.82 per 100 person-years (n = 191 deaths). In regression analyses with > 365 days as the reference group, treatment duration was not associated with all-cause mortality and drug overdose (P > 0.05 for both). However, compared with > 365 days of treatment, 91-180 days of treatment was associated with increased opioid overdose risk (hazard ratio = 2.94, 95% confidence interval = 1.11-7.79).
conclusionsAmong patients who discontinue buprenorphine treatment, there appears to be no treatment duration period associated with a reduced risk for all-cause mortality. Patients who discontinue buprenorphine treatment after 91-180 days appear to be at heightened risk for opioid overdose compared with patients who discontinue after > 365 days of treatment.
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.