Study of adjunctive counselling during brief and extended buprenorphine-naloxone treatment for prescription opioid dependence

Source: Arch Gen Psychiatry
Area: News
According to research published early online in the Archives of General Psychiatry, patients who are dependent on prescription opioids are most likely to reduce their use during treatment with buprenorphine-naloxone.  This effect is short lived however and reduces after treatment is tapered; the likelihood of a successful outcome is therefore low, even if counselling is also given. 
 
The authors note that the abuse of prescription opioids is a growing public health concern; the majority of research on the treatment of this has however focused on heroin-dependent patients receiving methadone in specialised treatment programmes.  Evidence has suggested that patients dependent on prescription opioids have more favourable prognos…