Cravings

Buprenorphine/naloxone and methadone effectiveness for reducing craving in individuals with prescription opioid use disorder: Exploratory results from an open-label, pragmatic randomized controlled trial

The 3W’s and an H.

Fact Sheet.

Journal Article.

  • People with prescription-type opioid use disorder who participated in the OPTIMA trial and were randomly assigned to:

    • Buprenorphine/ naloxone model of care with take home doses or;

    • Standard model of care with closely supervised methadone

  • To compare the effectiveness of flexible BUP/NX model of care to methadone for reducing cravings in individuals with prescription-type opioid use disorder.

  • Cravings was measured using the Brief Substance Craving Scale at baseline, week 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 and 22.

    • Cravings decreased in both treatment groups over 22 weeks.

    • Cravings were overall lower in the flexible BUP/NAL group vs. the methadone group.