Background and aims: Persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) and co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) are understudied. We identified whether co-occurring AUD was associated with OUD treatment type, compared associations between treatment type and six-month treatment retention and determined whether co-occurring AUD moderated these relationships.
Methods: We used an observational cohort study design to analyze insurance claims data from 2011 to 2016 from persons aged 12-64 with an opioid abuse or opioid dependence diagnosis and OUD treatment claim. Our unit of analysis was the treatment episode; we used logistic regression for analyses.
Results: Of 211,047 treatment episodes analyzed, 14 % had co-occurring alcohol abuse or dependence diagnoses. Among persons with opioid dependence, persons with co-occurring alcohol dependence were 25 % less likely to receive medication treatment relative to those without AUD. Further, alcohol dependence was associated with decreased likelihood of treatment with buprenorphine (AOR 0.47, 95 % CI 0.44-0.49) or methadone (AOR 0.31, 95 % CI 0.28-0.35) and increased likelihood of treatment with extended-release (AOR 1.36, 95 % CI 1.21-1.54) or oral (AOR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.57-1.90) naltrexone relative to psychosocial treatment. Buprenorphine and methadone were associated with highest retention prevalence regardless of OUD or AUD severity. Co-occurring alcohol abuse or dependence did not meaningfully change retention prevalence associated with buprenorphine or methadone. Co-occurring AUD was not associated with improved retention among persons receiving either formulation of naltrexone.
Conclusions: Buprenorphine and methadone are associated with relatively high likelihood of treatment retention among persons opioid and alcohol dependence, but are disproportionately under-prescribed.
Keywords: Alcohol use disorder; Buprenorphine; Methadone; Naltrexone; Opioid use disorder; Treatment retention.
Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.