Opioid treatment programs in the Clinical Trials Network: representativeness and buprenorphine adoption

As the Clinical Trials Network (CTN) begins to focus efforts on disseminating the results of its research studies to the addiction treatment field, it is important to begin to assess the capacity of programs outside the CTN to integrate with fidelity these endorsed treatment practices. To date, no data exist to assess the representativeness of opioid treatment programs (OTPs) participating in the CTN, nor potential barriers to the effective diffusion of practices aimed at the treatment of opioid-dependent patients, including buprenorphine. Using data obtained from OTPs within the CTN (n = 49) and a sample drawn from the population of U.S. OTPs (n = 50), this study compares the two groups on their organizational, clinical, and client characteristics, as well as their adoption of buprenorphine. The study finds that the populations differ significantly on numerous variables but that structural characteristics appear more predictive of buprenorphine adoption than either staff or caseload differences. Implications for studying the diffusion and implementation of evidence-based research findings are discussed.