ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence reports2025
Receipt of medications for opioid use disorder among rural and urban veterans health administration patients.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- An Institutional Provider Survey Evaluating Access and Implementation of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.Journal of addiction medicine · 2026Article
- Medications for opioid use disorder, recovery supports, and overdose risk -- a database linkage study of a rural cohort of people who inject drugs and use opioids.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Opioid use disorder and medication for opioid use disorder among pregnant women with commercial insurance in the United States, 2016-2020.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Variation in the quality of opioid use disorder treatment in the Medicaid population in 2019.PloS one · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Aim: We examined differences in medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) receipt between rural and urban veteran patients following initiatives within the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand access to MOUD. Methods: Data for this retrospective cohort study were obtained from the VA Corporate Data Warehouse, which contains national electronic health record data for all VA patients. The analytic sample included all patients diagnosed with OUD from 10/1/2018-9/30/20. Rurality was identified by the Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) code of patients' home address. Associations between rurality and MOUD receipt, as well as type of MOUD received, were examined using logistic regression. Results: Among 66,842 patients with OUD, 27.4 % were rural residents. Compared to urban patients, rural patients were slightly younger (50.1 vs. 52.5 years), more often white (87.7 % vs. 70.3 %) and less often received MOUD (42.6 % vs 45.5 %). Multivariable models confirmed that rural patients had a lower likelihood of accessing any form of MOUD (aOR= 0.84, 95 % CI: 0.81-0.87) relative to urban VA patients. Medication-specific analyses identified a lower likelihood of receiving methadone (aOR= 0.36, 95 % CI: 0.33-0.39) and naltrexone (aOR= 0.89, 95 % CI: 0.80-0.99) among rural patients, but higher likelihood of receiving buprenorphine (aOR= 1.05, 95 % CI: 1.01-1.09). Conclusion: Rural VA patients have a lower likelihood of receiving methadone and naltrexone for OUD treatment relative to urban patients, but greater likelihood of receiving buprenorphine. Continued work is needed to ensure that rural Veterans have equitable access to the most appropriate medication for their health care needs.
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