Exploring the Determinants of Treatment Completion Among Youth Who Received Medication-Assisted Treatment in the...

An effective treatment for Opioid Use Disorder is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). However, in the United States (US), this is still being underutilized by youth. Research indicates the need to develop strategies to reduce treatment barriers among these youth. Thus, we explored the rates of treatment completion and dropout among youth receiving MAT in US substance use treatment facilities and examined factors associated with treatment completion and dropout.

This study used the 2019 Treatment Episode Data Set-Discharges. Our analysis was restricted to youth (12-24 years) who primarily used heroin at admission. Log-binomial regression was used to examine various determinants of treatment completion and dropout, guided by Andersen's Behavioral Model.

The final sample size was 4917. Among youth reporting heroin use with receipt of MAT, those showing a higher likelihood of treatment completion than dropout were males [ARR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.088-1.381; p = 0.0008], had 1-7 times [ARR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.115-1.584; p = 0.0015] and 8-30 times self-help group participation [ARR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.246-1.803; p < 0.0001], had co-occurring mental and substance use disorders [ARR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.133-1.448, p < 0.0001], were admitted to detoxification [ARR: 2.80; 95% CI: 2.408-3.255; p < 0.0001] and residential/rehabilitation settings [ARR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.749-2.400; p < 0.0001], and were located in the Midwest/West [ARR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.030-1.358; p = 0.0173]. Conversely, other races (excluding Whites and Blacks/African Americans) [ARR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.609-0.916; p = 0.0051], those who used MAT [ARR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.694-0.946; p = 0.0077], and youth in the South [ARR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.369-0.549; p < 0.0001] were less likely to report treatment completion than dropout.

The majority of youth receiving MAT dropped out of treatment. We identified various factors that should be prioritized to address youth underutilization of MAT in the US.