Perceived stigma among people receiving opioid use disorder medication

WHAT PROBLEM DOES THIS STUDY ADDRESS?

Medication treatments like buprenorphine and methadone (i.e. opioid agonist treatments) are helpful gold-standard treatments for opioid use disorder that ultimately help to support positive recovery outcomes. In France, nearly 90% of individuals with opioid use disorder that get treatment receive an opioid agonist medication, significantly more common than in the United States (~2%).

Though 3/4 of French patients receive opioid agonist treatment from non-specialty providers (e.g., primary care), these patients are treated by a group constituting only 1/4 of all physicians that have the ability to prescribe opioid agonist treatments – of the physicians eligible to prescribe these medications, 75% choose not to do so. Primary care providers offering initial prescriptions of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder in France declined 44% between 2009 and 2015, and have remained stagnant since 2011, whereas methadone initiations have increased. Similar issues have been observed in the United States, with only about 8% of primary care physicians having prescribed buprenorphine. With rates of opioid use disorder continuing to increase in Europe, the declining involvement of primary care physicians in opioid use disorder medication treatment could reduce buprenorphine availability and threaten the success that France has had with medication treatment uptake.

To address these issues, studies have begun to evaluate the barriers to prescribing medication treatment in primary care, with provider attitudes toward opioid use disorder and its treatment being noted as one potential barrier. (RRI – Recovery Research Institute, USA, Dezember 2024)

https://www.recoveryanswers.org/research-post/perceived-stigma-people-opioid-use-disorder-medication/