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Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
It has been suggested that opioid agonist therapy (OAT) may have a secondary benefit of reducing methamphetamine/amphetamine use. However, current evidence is limited and conflicting, and little is known on the impacts of different OATs on methamphetamine/amphetamine use. The aim of this study was to examine the comparative effectiveness of buprenorphine/naloxone and methadone on methamphetamine/amphetamine use among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) initiating OAT in Canada.
Findings/Key points
Methamphetamine/amphetamine use was common among this sample of people with OUD initiating OAT in Canada. Over the 24-week study period, buprenorphine/naloxone and methadone were not associated with a quantifiable change in methamphetamine/amphetamine use among this sample population. The observation of less methamphetamine/amphetamine use in the buprenorphine/naloxone arm warrants further research.
Design/methods
Data for this study were derived from a 24-week pan-Canadian pragmatic trial conducted between 2017 and 2020 comparing supervised methadone versus flexible take-home dosing buprenorphine/naloxone models of care among OUD. Generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate the independent effect of treatment (i.e., methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone) and time in treatment (i.e., week 2 through 24, continuous) on methamphetamine/amphetamine use (measured by urine drug test and self-report using Timeline Follow-Back).
