ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2023
Utilization and disparities in medication treatment for opioid use disorder among patients with comorbid opioid use disorder and chronic pain during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Study Protocol for a Pain Self-Management Intervention to Reduce Pain and Improve MOUD Engagement in Primary Care: A Randomized Trial.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Trial
- Differential associations between social determinants of health and the initiation of medications for opioid use disorder across care settings.npj health systems · 2026Article
- A longitudinal analysis of overall and telehealth addiction treatment utilization three years after pandemic-related policy changes.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- Article
- Racial Inequality in Receipt of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Nationwide Outpatient Settings-A Cross-sectional Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Observational
- Associations between COVID impact domains and time to buprenorphine treatment disengagement.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic's impact on utilization of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain is unclear.
methodsWe analyzed New York State (NYS) Medicaid claims from pre-pandemic (August 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-December 2020) periods for beneficiaries with and without chronic pain. We calculated monthly proportions of patients with OUD diagnoses in 6-month-lookback windows utilizing MOUD and proportions of treatment-naïve patients initiating MOUD. We used interrupted time series to assess changes in MOUD utilization and initiation rates by medication type and by race/ethnicity.
resultsAmong 20,785 patients with OUD and chronic pain, 49.3% utilized MOUD (versus 60.3% without chronic pain). The pandemic did not affect utilization in either group but briefly disrupted initiation among patients with chronic pain (β=-0.009; 95% CI [-0.015, -0.002]). Overall MOUD utilization was not affected by the pandemic for any race/ethnicity but opioid treatment program (OTP) utilization was briefly disrupted for non-Hispanic Black individuals (β=-0.007 [-0.013, -0.001]). The pandemic disrupted overall MOUD initiation in non-Hispanic Black (β=-0.007 [-0.012, -0.002]) and Hispanic individuals (β=-0.010 [-0.019, -0.001]).
conclusionsAdults with chronic pain who were enrolled in NYS Medicaid before the COVID-19 pandemic had lower MOUD utilization than those without chronic pain. MOUD initiation was briefly disrupted, with disparities especially in racial/ethnic minority groups. Flexible MOUD policy initiatives may have maintained overall treatment utilization, but disparities in initiation and care continuity remain for patients with chronic pain, and particularly for racial/ethnic minoritized subgroups.
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