Factors associated with willingness to take extended release naltrexone among injection drug users.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Although opioid-agonist therapy with methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone is currently the mainstay of medical treatment for opioid use disorder, these medications often are not well accepted or tolerated by patients. Recently, extended release naltrexone (XR-NTX), an opioid antagonist, has been advanced as an alternative treatment. The willingness of opioid-addicted patients to take XR-NTX has not been well described.

METHODS:

Opioid-using persons enrolled in a community-recruited cohort in Vancouver, Canada, were asked whether or not they would be willing to take XR-NTX. Logistic regression was used to independently identify factors associated with willingness to take the medication.

RESULTS:

Among the 657 participants surveyed between June 1, 2013, and November 30, 2013, 342 (52.1%) were willing to take XR-NTX. One factor positively associated with willingness was daily heroin injection (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-2.31), whereas Caucasian ethnicity was negatively associated (AOR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.43-0.82). Satisfaction with agonist therapy (13.4%) and unwillingness to stop opioids being used for pain (26.9%) were the most common reasons for being unwilling to take XR-NTX.

CONCLUSIONS:

A high level of willingness to take XR-NTX was observed in this setting. Interestingly, daily injection heroin use was positively associated with willingness, whereas Caucasian participants were less willing to take XR-NTX. Although explanations for unwillingness were described in this study, further research is needed to investigate real-world acceptability of XR-NTX as an additional option for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

• Authors: Keith Ahamad, M J Milloy, Paul Nguyen, Sasha Uhlmann, Cheyenne Johnson, Todd P Korthuis, Thomas Kerr, Evan Wood
• Journal: Addiction science & clinical practice (Addict Sci Clin Pract) Vol. 10 Pg. 12 (May 03 2015) ISSN: 1940-0640 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 25935714 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Delayed-Action Preparations
• Narcotic Antagonists
• Naltrexone

Topics

• Adult
• Canada
• Delayed-Action Preparations
• Female
• Humans
• Injections, Intramuscular
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Naltrexone (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Narcotic Antagonists (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Opioid-Related Disorders (drug therapy, psychology)
• Patient Acceptance of Health Care (psychology)
• Socioeconomic Factors
• Substance Abuse, Intravenous (drug therapy, psychology)