TY - JOUR
T1 - Buprenorphine Versus Methadone in the Treatment of Opioid Dependence
T2 - Self-Reports, Urinalysis and Addiction Severity Index
AU - Strain, Eric C.
AU - Stitzer, Maxine L.
AU - Liebson, Ira A.
AU - Bigelow, George E.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - This article reports results for patients who completed the 16-week maintenance phase of a double-blind clinical trial comparing buprenorphine (N = 43; average dose = 9.0 mg/day sublingually) with methadone (N = 43; average dose = 54 mg/day orally) in the outpatient treatment of opioid dependence. In addition to pharmacotherapy, treatment during the clinical trial included individual counseling, weekly group therapy, and on-site medical services. Patients in both medication groups showed significant and substantial improvements over time in areas of psychosocial functioning, as assessed by the Addiction Severity Index, rates of urinalysis tests positive for opioids, and self-reports of opioid withdrawal symptoms, illicit opioid use, and cocaine use. Buprenorphine and methadone produced very similar outcomes on the wide array of outcome measures assessed, and improvements for both groups were large and occurred rapidly after treatment entry. A trend toward continued improvement in opioid-positive urines over time was noted for the buprenorphine but not the methadone group. These results provide further evidence of the efficacy of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid dependence and provide a characterization of the time course of effects for buprenorphine and methadone. In addition, these results demonstrate the benefits of drug abuse treatment, both for drug and alcohol use and in other areas of psychosocial functioning.
AB - This article reports results for patients who completed the 16-week maintenance phase of a double-blind clinical trial comparing buprenorphine (N = 43; average dose = 9.0 mg/day sublingually) with methadone (N = 43; average dose = 54 mg/day orally) in the outpatient treatment of opioid dependence. In addition to pharmacotherapy, treatment during the clinical trial included individual counseling, weekly group therapy, and on-site medical services. Patients in both medication groups showed significant and substantial improvements over time in areas of psychosocial functioning, as assessed by the Addiction Severity Index, rates of urinalysis tests positive for opioids, and self-reports of opioid withdrawal symptoms, illicit opioid use, and cocaine use. Buprenorphine and methadone produced very similar outcomes on the wide array of outcome measures assessed, and improvements for both groups were large and occurred rapidly after treatment entry. A trend toward continued improvement in opioid-positive urines over time was noted for the buprenorphine but not the methadone group. These results provide further evidence of the efficacy of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid dependence and provide a characterization of the time course of effects for buprenorphine and methadone. In addition, these results demonstrate the benefits of drug abuse treatment, both for drug and alcohol use and in other areas of psychosocial functioning.
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U2 - 10.1097/00004714-199602000-00010
DO - 10.1097/00004714-199602000-00010
M3 - Article
C2 - 8834420
AN - SCOPUS:0030042261
SN - 0271-0749
VL - 16
SP - 58
EP - 67
JO - Journal of clinical psychopharmacology
JF - Journal of clinical psychopharmacology
IS - 1
ER -