Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40617508›Full record

ArticleJournal of substance use and addiction treatment2025

Perspectives on medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) access and service delivery among a community sample of people who use opioids in Los Angeles.

Maria Bolshakova, Kelsey A Simpson, Siddhi S Ganesh, Steven Sussman, Ricky N Bluthenthal

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of substance use and addiction treatment, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. 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

5 authors.

Maria BolshakovaDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Kelsey A SimpsonDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases & Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. Electronic address: kasimpso10@gmail.com.
Siddhi S GaneshDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Steven SussmanDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Ricky N BluthenthalDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Funding

Training Program in Substance Use, HIV and Related InfectionsT32DA023356 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI Natasha Martin, Steffanie A Strathdee · 2007 to 2026
$7.8M
Preventing injection initiation: The Change The Cycle Randomized Controlled TrialR01DA038965 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI BLUTHENTHAL, RICKY N, KRAL, ALEXANDER H · 2015 to 2018
$3.0M
Cannabis use and health outcomes among opioid-using people who inject drugs in the context of cannabis legalizationR01DA046049 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI BLUTHENTHAL, RICKY N, CORSI, KAREN F · 2019 to 2022
$2.6M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA038965NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA046049NIDA NIH HHS T32 DA023356
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMedications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) such as buprenorphine and methadone are effective in reducing overdoses, drug use, and drug-related harms. Despite the benefits, MOUD is under-utilized among people who use opioids (PWUO) and this access and service delivery gap is more pronounced among community recruited PWUO who experience greater barriers to treatment entry. Limited qualitative studies have explored MOUD service and delivery barriers among this population. To address this gap, our study investigates the MOUD experiences, preferences, perceived benefits, and unmet treatment needs of a community sample of PWUO in Los Angeles.

methodsBetween September 2021-April 2022, qualitative interviews were conducted with PWUO in Los Angeles, California (N = 22) recruited from two community sites. Participants were at least 18 years old and self-reported opioid and injection drug use in the last 30 days. Participants answered questions related to general experiences with MOUD. We followed a thematic analysis approach to identify common themes that emerged from qualitative interview data.

resultsNearly a third of the sample was male (64 %), Hispanic/Latino (64 %), and the majority (73 %) reported an income of less than $1400 in the prior month. Participants reported: 1) hesitance initiating methadone treatment due to stigma 2) initiating MOUD to manage withdrawal and meet self-determined goals 3) comparing buprenorphine and methadone for withdrawal management to determine future treatment plans 4) being able to reduce interactions with the risk environment due to MOUD treatment and 5) recommending expanded MOUD access and improving delivery.

conclusionsOur findings support expanded and low to no barrier access and delivery of MOUD for socially disadvantaged PWUO who receive treatment in community settings.

Indexed as

BuprenorphineHealth Services AccessibilityMethadoneOpiate Substitution TreatmentOpioid-Related DisordersAdultFemaleHumansLos AngelesMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchBuprenorphineMethadoneBuprenorphineHeroinMedication for opioid use disorder (MOUD)MethadoneOpioid use disorderWithdrawal

Identifiers

PMID40617508
PMCPMC13398378

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.