ArticleDrug and alcohol review2025
Changing patterns of opioid agonist therapy prescribing in a network of specialised clinics providing care to people with opioid use disorder in Victoria, Australia, 2015 to 2023.
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 2 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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Factors Associated With Opioid Agonist Treatment Engagement and Harm Reduction Service Use: Findings From the New South Wales Opioid Dependence Survey.Drug and alcohol review · 2026Article
- Changing patterns of opioid agonist therapy prescribing in a network of specialised clinics providing care to people with opioid use disorder in Victoria, Australia, 2015 to 2023.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionLong-acting injectable buprenorphine (LAIB) reduces the frequency of contact with opioid agonist therapy (OAT) service providers. Limited data exist on OAT prescribing in Australia after the introduction of subsidised LAIB prescribing in September 2019. This ecological study describes trends in OAT prescribing between 2015 and 2023 across a network of primary care services in Victoria, Australia.
methodsWe utilised electronic medical records from 17 clinics in Victoria that provide services to people with opioid dependence to describe OAT prescribing patterns. We described the annual number and type (methadone, buprenorphine, LAIB) of OAT prescriptions issued, individuals prescribed, and individuals initiating OAT. Interrupted time series assessed changes in quarterly OAT prescribing following the introduction of LAIB.
resultsBetween 2015 and 2023, the average annual number of OAT prescriptions issued, and the average number of recipients prescribed OAT were 47,648 and 6470, respectively. Between 2020 and 2023, the proportion of individuals initiating on LAIB increased from 7% (73/1078) to 31% (357/1146). There was increasing quarterly OAT prescribing before the introduction of LAIB, after which methadone and buprenorphine prescribing declined by 2.6% (CR 0.974; 95% CI 0.968-0.980) and 3.2% (CR 0.968; 95% CI 0.963-0.973), respectively. After being introduced, quarterly LAIB prescribing increased by 13.1% (CR 1.131; 95% CI 1.096-1.167). DISCUSSION AND
conclusionsWe found substantial changes in OAT prescribing patterns in Victoria between 2015 and 2023, with shifts away from oral methadone and sublingual buprenorphine to LAIB. Alongside ongoing monitoring of prescribing patterns, future research should assess how LAIB impacts patient health and social outcomes.
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.