Buprenorphine Maintenance vs. Detoxification in Prescription Opioid Dependence

Prescription opioid dependence is increasing and creates a significant public health burden, but office-based physicians lack evidence-based guidelines to decide between maintenance or detoxification treatment with buprenorphine/naloxone. The proposed study compares buprenorphine/naloxone maintenance (Mtn) vs. detoxification (Dtx) in a 18-week randomized clinical trail in a heterogeneous population of prescription opioid dependent patients (N=120) in a primary care clinic. Patients are randomized to Mtn or Dtx after a 2-week induction period. Mtn is designed to reflect usual care by primary care physicians and includes weekly drug counseling (DC) and referral to ancillary services. Dtx and Mtn will be identical for the first 4 weeks (stabilization) following randomization. In Mtn, buprenorphine/naloxone will continue unchanged for the remainder of the study. In Dtx, the dosage of buprenorphine/naloxone will be tapered to zero over the next 3 weeks, and patients will not receive additional buprenorphine/naloxone for the remainder of the study. Dtx patients will be offered thrice-weekly DC beginning during the taper and naltrexone will be offered 7 days following the last dose of Bup. The study will test the hypothesis that Mtn will lead to decreased illicit drug use and will demonstrate incremental cost-effectiveness compared to Dtx. Relevance to public health: The results of this study will help define the role of maintenance vs. detoxification with buprenorphine/naloxone in the care of prescription opioid dependent patients in primary care.