Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39370671›Full record

ArticleDrug and alcohol review2025

Provider costs of treating opioid dependence with extended-release buprenorphine in Australia.

Stella Settumba, Jeyran Shahbazi, Marianne Byrne, Louisa Degenhardt, Jason Grebely, Briony Larance, Suzanne Nielsen, Nicholas Lintzeris, Robert Ali, Craig Rodgers and 6 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Drug and alcohol review, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Stella SettumbaNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-8514-7770
Jeyran ShahbaziNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Marianne ByrneNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Louisa DegenhardtNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8513-2218
Jason GrebelyThe Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Briony LaranceNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3800-7673
Suzanne NielsenFaculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-5341-1055
Nicholas LintzerisDiscipline of Addiction Medicine, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-5229-8257
Robert AliNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2905-8153
Craig RodgersRankin Court Treatment Centre, The O'Brien Centre, Sydney, Australia.
Alison BlazeyRoyal North Shore Hospital, North Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
Robert WeissFrankston Healthcare, Melbourne, Australia.
Adrian DunlopDrug and Alcohol Services, Hunter New England Local Health District, Newcastle, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2394-5966
Michael McDonoughDrug and Alcohol Services South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Jon CookDrug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service, Western Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Michael FarrellNational Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

Funding

TRANSFORM - Transforming the evidence base on estimating prevalence of opioid use disorder and expanded access to interventions to prevent drug related deaths: an international data linkage studyR01DA059822 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES · PI Joshua Adam Barocas, Louisa Degenhardt · 2024 to 2026
$2.3M
IndiviorNIDA NIH HHS R01 DA059822
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe costs of providing medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence can determine its scale of provision. To provide estimates of the costs of extended-release buprenorphine (BUP-XR), we performed a bottom-up costing analysis of provider operational treatment costs.

methodsData were collected in a single-arm open label trial of BUP-XR injections conducted in specialist public drug treatment services and primary care private practices in three Australian states (the CoLAB study). The unit costs of resources used for each activity were combined with quantities used at each participating facility to arrive at the average annual cost per client.

resultsOne hundred participants across the six health facility sites received monthly subcutaneous BUP-XR injections administered by a health-care practitioner. The average cost of providing 1 year of treatment per participant was $6656 ($6026-$8326). Screening cost (initial assessment and medical history) was $282 while monthly follow-up appointments cost $531 per client. The main cost driver was the monthly treatment costs accounting for 79% of the average annual client cost, with medication costs comprising 95% of this cost. DISCUSSION AND

conclusionWith medication costs making up the largest proportion of treatment costs, treatment using BUP-XR has the potential to free up other health system resources, for example, staff time. The costs reported in this study can be used in an economic evaluation to estimate the net benefit or cost-effectiveness of BUP-XR especially when compared to other opioid agonist treatments.

Indexed as

BuprenorphineHealth Care CostsNarcotic AntagonistsOpiate Substitution TreatmentOpioid-Related DisordersAdultAustraliaDelayed-Action PreparationsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedBuprenorphineDelayed-Action PreparationsNarcotic Antagonistscosts and cost analysisextended‐release buprenorphineopioid dependenceprovider perspective

Identifiers

PMID39370671
PMCPMC11743055

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Registered trials

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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.