Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41632474›Full record

ArticleJAMA network open2026

Travel Time to Methadone Treatment Via Personal Vehicle vs Public Transit.

Benjamin A Howell, Junghwan Kim, Thomas A Thornhill, Jinhyung Lee, Emma T Biegacki, Lauretta E Grau, David A Fiellin, Robert Heimer, Gregg S Gonsalves

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JAMA network open, 2026. 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

9 authors.

Benjamin A HowellSection of General Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Junghwan KimDepartment of Geography, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg.
Thomas A ThornhillDepartment of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.
Jinhyung LeeDepartment of Geography and Environment, Faculty of Social Science, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Emma T BiegackiProgram in Addiction Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Lauretta E GrauProgram in Addiction Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
David A FiellinSection of General Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Robert HeimerProgram in Addiction Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Gregg S GonsalvesProgram in Addiction Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.

Funding

Predict, Detect, Diagnose: Confronting Outbreaks of HIV and Other Infectious Diseases Among People Who Use DrugsR01DA060716 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Gregg Steven Gonsalves, Joshua Lindsey Warren · 2024 to 2026
$2.1M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA060716
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Importance: The requirement for in-person, often daily, attendance at opioid treatment programs (OTPs) makes travel times a barrier to methadone treatment. Research on methadone accessibility has primarily focused on travel via personal vehicle, and there is uncertainty about public transit travel time to methadone treatment. Objective: To estimate travel time via personal vehicle vs public transit to methadone treatment in the state of Connecticut. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study included geospatial analysis of median travel time to nearest OTP via personal vehicle and public transit from all census block groups (CBGs). This study took place in the state of Connecticut in 2023. Participants were all CBGs in Connecticut. Exposures: Participants were characterized by racial and ethnic demographics; household income; car ownership; urban, suburban, or rural designations; and per-capita opioid overdose deaths. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the median travel time to nearest OTP by via personal vehicle and public transit. Spatial error models using k-nearest neighbor spatial weight matrices were estimated to assess the associations between sociodemographic characteristics and travel times for each transportation mode (personal vehicle vs public transit) at the CBG level. Results: From the centroids of the 2702 CBGs in Connecticut, the median (IQR) travel time to the closest OTP was 11.0 (7.5-16.3) minutes by personal vehicle and 41.7 (31.0-49.5) minutes via public transit, with 1431 CBGs (53%) lacking access to public transit or having high public transit times (>60 minutes or no trip available). Travel times via public transit increased along the urban-rural gradient and across CBGs with an increasing percentage of non-Hispanic White residents. Median (IQR) travel times to an OTP from the 489 CBGs with the highest per-capita overdose death rates were 8.2 (5.9-11.7) minutes by personal vehicle and 37.6 (27.8-48.5) minutes by public transit, with 166 (34%) lacking public transit access. Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this cross-sectional study of barriers to access to methadone treatment suggest that areas with high overdose death rates, low car ownership, and high public transit travel times should be targets for interventions (eg, mobile services or greater use of take-home doses for patients) to lower travel-based barriers to methadone. Current federal statutes and regulations governing methadone provision are the greatest barrier, as they directly require often daily transit to opioid treatment clinics. Reducing this barrier requires policy changes.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityMethadoneOpiate Substitution TreatmentOpioid-Related DisordersTransportationTravelAdultConnecticutCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleTime FactorsMethadone

Identifiers

PMID41632474
PMCPMC12869344

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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.