ArticleAddiction science & clinical practice2022
Cumulative barriers to retention in methadone treatment among adults from rural and small urban communities.
Article in Addiction science & clinical practice, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Quality of life and treatment effectiveness direct and indirect effects on cocaine abstinence outcomes during cocaine use disorder treatment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Trial
- Barriers and facilitators to scaling up medications for opioid use disorder in Kentucky: qualitative perspectives of treatment organization staff.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2025Trial
- Patient Travel Experiences for Methadone Dosing Visits.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Differential associations between social determinants of health and the initiation of medications for opioid use disorder across care settings.npj health systems · 2026Article
- "How are we going to be able to pull that off?": staff perspectives on the early implementation of mobile medication units in New York State.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Treatment and Health Outcomes in Methadone-Treated Patients with Opioid Use Disorder and Diabetes.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Treating Opioid Use Disorder With Methadone in Pharmacies.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Barriers and facilitators to methadone dispensing for opioid use disorder in community pharmacies: A scoping review.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Review
- Travel Time to Methadone Treatment Via Personal Vehicle vs Public Transit.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Retention among Medicaid beneficiaries in opioid treatment programs in California.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- Patterns of Felt Stigma Among Rural-Dwelling People Who Use Drugs: A Latent Class Analysis.Substance use & misuse · 2026Article
- Public transit and methadone - Spatial analyses of opioid treatment program access in Greater Boston, 2020-2022.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Methadone-involved overdose deaths in urban and rural communities before and after the public health emergency flexibilities for methadone take-home doses.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 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
- "It's more than just the act of not using. It's a feeling of finally completing something.": Person-centered definitions of successful treatment outcomes from patients and staff at a methadone treatment program in Baltimore City.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Patient and Prescriber characteristics associated with return to daily-dispense methadone: A multilevel cohort study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- The hidden costs of 'free' treatment: A cross-sectional study of patient-incurred costs for daily methadone maintenance treatment in Nairobi, Kenya.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Scaling up medications for opioid use disorder in Kentucky: Qualitative perspectives of treatment organizations.Research square · 2024Article
- Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Among Transition Age Youth Compared to Adults 26 or Older in Rural Settings.JAACAP open · 2024Article
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 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThough methadone has been shown to effectively treat opioid use disorder, many barriers prevent individuals from accessing and maintaining treatment. Barriers are prevalent in less populated areas where treatment options are limited. This study examines barriers to retention in methadone treatment in a small Midwest community and identifies factors associated with greater endorsement of barriers.
methodsPatients at an opioid treatment program (N = 267) were recruited to complete a computer-based survey onsite. Surveys assessed demographics, opioid misuse, depression and anxiety symptoms, trauma history and symptoms, social support, and barriers to retention in treatment (e.g., childcare, work, housing, transportation, legal obligations, cost, health). Descriptive statistics were used to examine individual barriers and multiple regression was calculated to identify demographic and psychosocial factors associated with greater cumulative barriers.
resultsMost participants reported at least one barrier to retention in treatment and more than half reported multiple barriers. Travel hardships and work conflicts were the most highly endorsed barriers. Past year return to use (B = 2.31, p = 0.004) and more severe mental health symptomology (B = 0.20, p = 0.038) were associated with greater cumulative barriers. Greater levels of social support were associated with fewer barriers (B = - 0.23, p < 0.001).
conclusionThis study adds to the limited research on barriers to retention in methadone treatment among patients in rural and small urban communities. Findings suggest flexible regulations for dispensing methadone, co-location or care coordination, and family or peer support programs may further reduce opioid use and related harms in small communities. Individuals with past year return to use reported a greater number of barriers, highlighting the time following return to use as critical for wraparound services and support. Those with co-occurring mental health issues may be vulnerable to poor treatment outcomes, as evidenced by greater endorsement of barriers. As social support emerged as a protective factor, efforts to strengthen informal support networks should be explored as adjunctive services to methadone treatment.
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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.